January 25, 2008

This is a Blog, Doggonnitt!

......That means there should be some dog gone blogging going on. And there will be, soon. I'm waiting for Randy Ingermanson to dole out the secrets to Best Blogging Practices Ever ANY MINUTE NOW so we can get this baby rolling in the right direction. No hurry, Randy. Take your time.

In the meantime, here are some things I DO know about the future of this blog. This blog will NOT include:


*photos of my family. Well, maybe one or two of the dog. Jodi's really, really ugly in a hairball, Chewbacca kind of way.


Right: Jodi and her favorite snack.


Left: Jodi in her favorite reading spot.


Not pictured: Jodi stealing lettuce from the bunny's pen. She has a lettuce/carrot/or anything we might give to the rabbit obsession/fetish/addiction.


*meanderings about what we found at a garage sale (Did I mention I HATE SHOPPING, INCLUDING GARAGE SALES?? I know, that cuts out about 85% of the potential EXTREME KEYBOARDING community. Hey, I'm prepared to deal with that).

Right: Although he likes garage sales, I found this priceless treasure at Wendy's in 1980. I don't know if that makes him an antique. You'd never guess to look at him.


*musings about what I saw flattened in the road today. Well, no, I take that back. We might blog about things like that if there is a profound spiritual truth to be gained from it.

*Sports of ANY kind. Except keyboarding.

I want this blog to be something you find worth as much of your time to read as it is my time to provide. Hey, we could kill 2 birds with one bird in the hand.... or one stone is worth two birds in the bush.... Okay, I didn't know I had bird issues. Whatever.

Hey, as far as issues goes.... the only thing the self-help '80s and all that theraputic whining into a journal did for me was make me even more self-absorbed. Let's re-bag the issues and carry 'em around a while. Builds muscle.

And let's have a laugh while we're growing older and forced to get a little more serious. We may end up promoting world peace while we're at it. :)

In the next issue of EXTREME KEYBOARDING: How I Survived My Daughter's First Official Date. Includes an eye-opening lesson learned the hard way on selecting a hair stylist who speaks English and understands what "up-do" means.

ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF. . . .

RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME:

I've published five novels and 2 novellas (more about those on my website.) I've been writing all my life, but decided in 2007 to get serious about being published.

I love action movies and Jane Austen. (she’s dead, I know. I found that out when I tried to get her to endorse my novel)

They let me play Bass guitar and sing in a worship band.

I can produce 4 dozen homemade cinnamon rolls in a flash for a crowd of drooling young adults. Or publishing house editors.

I used to have a Harley. Now we have seven grandkiddos. Decent trade, really.

I am a proud Grammy. Don't even think about taking candy from my babies.

I hate shopping (Yes, I'm aware that I'm a girl)

MY ROOTS:
I've lived in Oregon all my life, spent time in Eugene (Go DUCKS!), Springfield, Reedsport, and Smith River. Which is not really a town, but a river, about 70 miles long, a tributary of the Umpqua River in southwest Oregon.

Although it's not a town, it is a community with a strong sense of pioneer history. It's cool to say you've lived there, especially if you lived there during the days when you had to take a boat to school. No joke! The old farmhouse my grandfather and my mother grew up in still stands, nestled into a narrow, pasture carpeted valley, complete with a swimmin' hole and its own 'crick'. It may turn up in one of my novels.

There's a rumor that my ancestors had a connection with the Mafia back in Sicily. I used to fantasize as a kid about a big black limo with tinted windows pulling up and whisking me away from school. Ahhh. So THAT'S why I'm having so much trouble conjugating my dangling participles now.

NOT RANDOM: I am challenged by the truth and amazed by the grace of God. And it's either in spite of or because of that grace that I hold a PhD in Learning Stuff the Hard Way.