stay-ice cream
Miss S at Mellie’s

Okay, I procrastinated enough this morning: week planned, tweets set, garden weeded,, breakfast eaten, first meditation of the day settled, [tweetthis]Time to set my mind, body, and soul to what fuels me. [/tweetthis]Writing.  Do you ever put off what gives you the most pleasure?  Let’s warm up with a little gratitude.

Monday morning is Mom’s time.  I so look forward to our visits by phone.  I tried to FaceTime her, because I haven’t seen her face in two months.  Alas, the message, “unavailable,” came up, so I had to settle for the old-fashioned, land line.  I settled in for a cup of coffee on the balcony, while we visited.  She gave me my first laugh-out loud moment of the day.  I laughed so hard, I inhaled a gnat.  I swear, three hours later, it’s still trying to make it’s way out my windpipe.  I envision my immune system in an Extreme Wrestling match with a tiny something with tinsy legs flailing relentlessly against a growing glob of mucous.

Facebook for crowd-sourcing. I put it out there, I need someone who can design the cover to my novel, A Ship of Pearl.  I do believe I found someone in Chad Green. He’s as excited as I am out A Ship of Pearl, asking all the right questions.  He sent me some examples of theatre posters he created, and now, I’m even more pumped.  And guess what?  Chad is my cousin’s son.  Is that my second cousin, or my cousin once removed.  Anyways, the inspiration behind one of the main characters is Chad’s grandpa.  Chad’s going to help me with the cover and the early purchase postcards.  Thank you Facebook. Thank you Chad.

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fortune telling - 1

A month ago, I readied myself to attend BAM16.  This is one of my two favorite conferences for writers.  These are my “birds of a feather.”  I met friends I only knew virtually, reconnected with friends I made last year, and got a whole new gaggle of friends.  For anyone thinking about attending next year, I highly recommend grabbing a roommate.  Sure it cuts down on cost; but the best benefit is the lasting friendships.  My roommate from last year, Pam Lutrell, and this year’s Julie A Wallace are now two of my favorite people.  Pam’s Over 50 Feeling Feeling 40 made me begin to feel more confident about fashion and style.  I still feel a bit more like Style from the Stylus, if you know what I mean.  Still, Pam and the other style bloggers pumped me up.

Julie, from WordStormCasserole came in a day early and had a leg up networking with the other bloggers.  She literally crammed me into her gaggle of friends and before long, the five of us became the ClownCarChronicles (Midlife Bloggers Gone Wild.)  We formed our own Mastermind group and plan to meet once a month to keep each other accountable.

Again at this conference, my mind swirled with ideas about monetizing, ambassadorship, and branding.  What is my brand, anyways?  I want to be known as a good writer.  A storyteller. I want to get my novel published so I can proudly call myself a novelist.

So what’s up with the lip prints, perhaps you wonder. While at BAM16, we each got a lip-reading.  Jennifer Connolly, from A Well Styled Life  suggested I try a shade of the complimentary lipstick just a bit brighter  than I usually wear.  I picked Cover Girls “Outlast” in shade 925. Wow! That shade really does brighten up my face.  Thanks Jennifer.

Not that I really believe in fortune-telling, but everyone came back happy about what they heard:  “Your creativity is about to break through to something big;” “You are on  the verge of a partnership;” “you’re a natural-born caretaker:” and more great things like that. So here’s what I remember hearing.

See those holes in your lip print? That’s a sign that energy is escaping.  You have many irons in the fire.  Perhaps more than you can keep track of.”

Whoa Mama.  

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