I OBJECT

This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as the Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by the one and only, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens

the first Wednesday of each month.

It would be sweet of you to visit at least a dozen or so new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated.

Co-Hosts:  J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker , Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey!

OPTIONAL IWSG Day Question: What are five objects we'd find in your writing space

Five objects in my writing space?

1)   For sure, my new favorite coffee cup filled with my  

     favorite coffee – Sumatra.

2)  Palo santo burning in my incense burner to cleanse my surroundings.

3)  Shungite and other crystals and stones for good energy and protection from EMFs.

4)  Tones, not that tones are an object per se but they    

      set the ‘tone’ as I were for me to write in peace,

      helping me to keep my mind from getting distracted.

      Here's a link to the different solfeggio frequencies tones 

      and what they're used for.

5)   And of course - my laptop.

To all fellow bloggers -

Wishing you all the joys of the season  and Feliz Navidad to all those who believe.

Always,
Em-Musing

WRITING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as the

Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by the one and only, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month.It would be sweet of you to visit at least a dozen or so new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated.

OPTIONAL IWSG Day Question: How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something?

Has life events affect my writing?

BIG TIME!

My genre of choice used to be horror, supernatural thriller.

When I fell in love again after decades of a difficult marriage...

I wrote humorous women’s fiction...

Based on my newfound happiness.

Why humourous you ask?

Trust me...

When you’re 24 years older than the guy...

Ya gotta have a sense of humor.

When death took him after just a few years...

My writing went dark...

Not like the genre...

But rather the military definition:

Termination of communication.

My writing basically went bye-bye for several years.

Having moved here to be with "him"...

"Him" being a Mexican national.

I chose to stay in Mexico

Learning the language (some)...

Learning the ins and outs of the culture...

And I survived...

So did my creativity.

I am writing again...

Revamping an existing manuscript...

Soon to publish...

And am writing humorous women’s fiction again.

So?

What about you?

Do life events affect your writing?

Always,

Em-Musing

HANDS SOLO

This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as the Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by the one and only, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of insecure writers please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month. It would be swee of you to visit new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated.

OPTIONAL IWSG Day Question: What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?

Deciding to self-publish my manuscript...

Was the most difficult decision I’ve made recently.

For years, I clung to the concept...

That self-pub’d books were not worthy...

Because an agent and/or publisher hadn’t picked them up.

But...

After years of rejection and mind exhaustion...

I reevaluated the self-publishing notion.

With successes like: Amanda Hocking, E.L. James, Robert Kiosaki, and others...

And also friends who successfuly went this route... 

I made the decision to do this...

To become "hands-on"...

Not just as a  writer/author...

But doing every job in between.

(of course, whining all the way)

And tah dah!!!

My book will launch in early October!

There! 

I finally said it!

So? 

What path did you take or will you take?

What is/was your experience? 

Always,

Em-Musing

ASSUME THE IMPOSITION

Ya know what irks me?

When people ask if they can taste something that I’m eating.

Like:

A spoonful of my dessert...

A taste of my pasta...

A piece of my meat. 

A slurp of my ice cream cone.
I don’t know about you...

But when I order something...

I don't feel the need to share...
I want it all.

But then...
When my food is on my plate or in my hand...
Before I can even savor the experience...

Whoever I'm with...

Stares at my food...

Like a vampire salivating over a bulging jugular...

And then comes the inevitable plea...

“Can I have a taste of that?”

No! 

I want to say...

But civility makes me say, “Sure.”

“Do you want to taste mine?” they ask.

No thanks! 

I want to say.

Especially since you've been digging in it with your spitty fork! 

Or slurping your tongue all over the ice-cream cone! 
But civility makes me once again say, “Sure.”

So?

How civil are you...

When people ask you for a bite of your food?

(And often it's a very big bite or slurp!)

Always,

Em-Musing

SCARED SHIFTLESS

I’ve been having recurring nightmares for months...

When I am being chased and hunted down.

I wake up in the dark scared...

And in “pull-the-covers-over-my-head” mode... 

From what or whom I don’t know.

So, being a Google Queen...

I looked up the meaning of nightmares and being chased...

And by the diagnosis on many sites...

There’s a good possibility that what’s chasing me is...

My YET-TO-BE-PUBLISHED BOOK

Yup!

According to psychotherapists...

A recurring dream about being chased... 

Generally means your unconsciousness is telling you...

That besides avoiding a person...

An emotional issue that’s painful, annoying or fearful...

Could be a chasing you to make you do something.

WHOOP!

There it is!

Because of my fear of self-publishing...

My YET-TO-BE-PUBLISHED NOVEL...

Is chasing me down harping ...

PUBLISH ME ALREADY, ALRIGHT!

So?

What are your fears? 

And do they chase you down? 

Always, 

Em-Musing

P.S.  Sneak preview of my soon-to-be-self-published novel under my pseudonym Karen Lee Baldwin

FEELING ITALIC?

I’m reading Dan Brown’s Origin...

And ya know what I love about his writing...

Besides his intricate plots?

His characters, especially the villains...

The vivid descriptions of scenes...

How he weaves history throughout the story...

And that he uses lots of italics!

I think italics add an emotional layer to his characters...

Letting the reader get inside their head.  

And I especially like getting into antagonists' heads...

With all their creepy, evil, deviant thoughts.

And really...

Don't we all have this italic thinking going on?

Well, maybe not creepy, evil, and deviant thoughts...

But thoughts when our mouth says one thing...

Yet we have an internal dialog going on.

For instance:

When my annoying neighbor drops by unannounced...

And I say, “Hi, nice to see you.”

But I’m thinking

Please don't make this a marathon visit...

Telling me one more time...

How you're going to cleanse your liver...

Or that you're going to do a coffee enema! Yeesh!

Please go home soon!

So yes, I like the italic layer of a character in print.

However...

Aren’t we writers always warned…

Not to over-use italics?

So?

Do you use italics in your writing?

And if so...

Why and how often do you use them?

Always,

Em-Musing

P.S. Mr. Brown also likes to break the cardinal rule of

NO ADVERBS Like this one—uncomprehendingly I don’t think I’ve ever said that word let alone have written it.

LONG IN THE TOOTH AISLE

I knew my brain was suffering information overload... 

When I stood in the toothpaste aisle... 
And couldn’t make a decision.

Gone are the days... 

When the only criteria for buying toothpaste...
Was price... 

Because back then...
All toothpastes were created equal.

Today there are so many choices...
Price is now at the bottom of my decision list. 

What I wanted was a “whitening” toothpaste...

Because besides my teeth being clean... 

I wanted them to be white...

But then I noticed that particular brand...
Didn’t have tartar control... 

And I’m prone to tooth crud.

Scanning the shelves, I found a brand...

That whitened and had tartar control in it. Great!

But it also had fluoride...

I don’t want fluoride in my toothpaste anymore...

Because city water has fluoride in it.
So that got me to wondering...
If I drink city water with fluoride...

Do I need fluoride treatments from my dentist?

I also worry...
That if I drink eight glasses of city water a day... 

Am I getting not only too much fluoride, but chlorine?

But then...
Because chlorine is used to clean my city’s water...

And chlorine bleach makes laundry white...
If I drink enough city water...

Will it whiten my teeth?

And then do I even need the whitening toothpaste? 

And besides the chlorine whitening my teeth...

Chlorine kills germs like in pools...

So? Will drinking city water...

Kill germs that cause gingivitis and bad breath?

And then do I even need mouthwash that kills germs? 

Is it me? 

Or should buying toothpaste be this difficult?

Always,

Em-Musing