Chop It Off

Imagine with me. The beach. No one around in either direction for miles. A strong, cool breeze brings the fresh, salty smell, blowing your hair back from your face. As the sun sets, the water somehow holds the light for a few minutes, glowing with a faint radiance all its own. The sound of the waves is constant, soothing. The sand underfoot is soft and warm, countering the chill of the breeze.

Nope, dangit, my head still hurts. So much for meditation. Okay, well, I can't try the Romanian folklore method of getting rid of headaches (prohibited under doctor's orders), but here's what else I found:

1. Get a cabbage leaf and wrap it against your forehead with an ACE bandage. First, however, crumble it up and rub the juice onto your wrists and behind your ears.

Also functions as a perfume, provided your love interest REALLY likes cabbage. If you are going out, wear a flapper-style dress and use a sequined headband instead of ACE bandage. Everyone will be in awe of your fashion-foward sense of style.

2. Crumple fresh lilac leaves and hold them against your forehead for as long as needed to alleviate pain.

Guaranteed to work after three days.

3. Drink half a glass of freshly juiced potato juice.

It will take you so long to figure out how to juice a potato, you will have forgotten your head even hurts by the time you get around to drinking it. And, if you remember, the taste of the potato juice will be enough to convince you that headaches really aren't so bad, after all.

And, if all of those folk methods fail you, you can always go directly to the source of the pain and CUT YOUR HEAD OFF.

Unfortunately, I am fresh out of both guillotines and axes, and I have yet to find someone willing to help me.

I guess I'll go buy some cabbage leaves.

Ah, Monday

I'm a little flummoxed. I was pretty sure that the universe was going to be dumping good and wonderful things on my head today to make up for last week, and it hasn't happened yet. Mostly the only thing being dumped on my head is a wicked headache. Still, my wonderful sisters-in-law took the kiddies for the morning and I got a nap, which is something at least.

And, fabulous news! What? No, I didn't get an agent. Sheesh, thanks a lot for bringing THAT up. No, I finally got all of the sticky IV tape goo off of my arms! Now all I have are the pretty IV bruises! So, to celebrate, and to brighten your Monday, I give you the best dancer in Europe circa 1970-something, and what is, quite possibly, the best song of all time. Even if I can't understand more than two words.

All that's left to say is, Oh ho ho ho! Ah ha ha ha! Hoo! Ha!

In Which I Have No Major Medical Emergencies

So, things are fine. Really. I'm just taking it easy and recovering. And lest any of you think I've treated this rather devastating series of events too lightly, well, let's just say it's easier to make jokes than to bawl. Mostly because the tummy-movements involved with bawling really, really hurt my incisions at this point. Anyhow, I seem to have picked up a few new readers (all of whom I absolutely adore), and now I feel bad. I promise Kiersten Writes is not always about how bad my life sucks, or how I almost died yesterday, and never up until now would I have dreamed of talking about fallopian tubes. Usually it's just funny and occasionally I actually write some decent stuff, so rather than generating new content today, because hey, my tummy hurts, remember?, I thought I'd just direct you to some old posts.

If you like poems about women's undergarments (and really, who doesn't?), this is the post for you.

If you were wondering whether or not I am a nerd, maybe you should read this one.

In which I wax philosophical about why I like serial dramas, and why, come January, you will be hearing more about LOST.

I really hate writing synopses, which are summaries of your WHOLE ENTIRE BOOK. I whine and make jokes about it, entertaining myself in the process. And, of course, putting off writing the actual synopsis.

In case you haven't noticed, I like language, and I think about it a lot.

What the freg? This one was funny.

Remember Laptop? He's been really quiet lately. I think Renee broke his heart when she started flirting with all of the macs.

Hot Stuff is funny. Really funny.

This post has the best title ever. You can ignore the rest.

Sometimes I write stuff that's all pretty and literary. It's even about puke occasionally.

This is, like, totally what my book Flash is about. Kinda. Like, you know. And here's a poem about it, too.

More lame poetry here!

My brain may very well be broken, since I like to think about things like this.

Mexico! Nudity! Massive floating...well, just read it.

Oh, querying. I'm really not going to miss it. And for those of you not in the know, here's my authoritative guide to getting published. I'll even teach you how to write and how to use dialogue tags.

Sometimes I figure things out. Most of the time not so much.

I write stuff that's not fiction. The pay is awesome. The subjects are boring.

We all have writing quirks. You can figure mine out very quickly with this post.

Okay. Obviously I like the sound of my own voice. Or the sight of my own typing? Read all of them, read none of them, or just go ahead and read every post I've ever written. But really, the bra poem is awesome.

Burst Tubes and Internal Bleeding and Emergency Surgery, Oh My!

Alternative Titles:

Clearly the Egg Skipped "Where to Implant" Class One Too Many Times

Contrary to Popular Shows, Not All ER Doctors and Nurses Are Sleeping With Each Other

Believe It Or Not, I Planned This Post in Post-Op--It's a Post-Op-Post!

Who Needs Two Fallopian Tubes Anyway?

I'm Glad I'm Not Dead

Well, I think that about covers it for alternative titles. Talk about a weird day!

Join My Cult

Wait, no, I'm not trying to convert you to Mormonism. (Besides, we're not a cult--full fledged religion! Except in Romania, but that's a long story.)

No, I'm talking about that freaky new blog feature. Does it weird anyone else out that you become someone's "follower"? Because for me, being followed brings two things to mind: little siblings who would follow you around and never ever leave you alone (not MY little siblings of course, who were always charming and wonderful and never obnoxious), and high school stalkers. So, are you bothered by it? No?

Well then--announcing the Cult of Kiersten! For a limited time only, you, too, can become one of my exalted followers! I'll take care of you, make you laugh, and lead you.

And--of course--like any good cult leader, I'll also take your money. Because I can't be a very good leader with these old clothes, now, can I? And I'm also in serious need of a leadership retreat.

And, as your cult leader, I promise never to initiate mass suicide, encourage you to leave your families and join me in a compound, or make you wear really, really ugly clothes. See? What an awesome cult! I accept cash, check (with ID, naturally), and all of the major credit cards.

Turns Out I'm Resilient

Who knew?

And thanks for all of your comments on the last post. I think maybe I should try that more often--or just use the word suck more often or something, because man, I was feeling the love. You guys rock.

Anyway. Basically what happened on Monday was that two things I was waiting on that had the potential to be life-changingly good or devastatingly bad both resolved themselves--within an hour of each other--in the worst possible way. Awesome!

BUT--take this, cruel fates--your plan failed! Because by giving me both crappy outcomes at once, you made the less crappy one that normally would have been horrible seem way, way less important in the face of the overwhelmingly awful one! So how's that for a positive outlook, right?

And now that the stress of worrying what the outcomes would be is gone, dealing with the actual wretchedness isn't that huge of a deal. Here is my secret formula for dealing with serious crap:

1- Good friends and family
2- Hot (and wonderful) husband
3- Cute kids
4- A huge bag of M&Ms and FULL sugar, FULL caffeine Dr Pepper (what can I say, I'm hardcore)
4.1- Gaining five pounds

Because nothing says comfort like your very own pillsbury doughboy tummy! Hoo-hoo!

I'm still not quite at top form (yesterday when Dojo was being naughty, I threatened to put him in In-N-Out, which probably wouldn't be quite as effective as time-out, although it would definitely taste better), but time heals all wounds, right? Of course, it also ages you, and gives you wrinkles.

Everything's a trade-off.

When It Rains

Sometimes things suck so bad even I can't think of a wry or sarcastic way to spin them. So I'm gonna take a break until the weekend. Hope you are all doing well, though.

Me? Me!

Special thanks to Cindy for tagging me and giving me yet another excuse to write a brainless post. So, double dose of more about Kiersten than you ever knew you wanted to know!

Additionally, I tag Mary, in the hopes that she'll tag Kim Jong Ill again and this time he'll actually play, Lindsey, in the hopes that she actually posts for once, and Renee, because she is a MoMo, and therefore awesome.

1. What are your nicknames? My dad calls me Susie, which confuses people, since it has nothing to do with my name. Other than that, Kierst, Kierstoid (Hot Stuff does strange things with my name), and MAMA!

2. What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD? The first I can recall is A Knight's Tale. I got it for Hot Stuff our first Valentine's together. We went to that movie on our first date; I had just barely seen it, and so I made fun of it the whole time. I kept telling myself to shut up, worried he would think me annoying, but it turns out he thought I was funny. And wanted to date me. And now he's mine forever.

3. What is your favorite scent? It's a tie. Newborns and Hot Stuff. Funny story about that--after seven years, suddenly when I snuggled up to him or hugged him, something was freaking me out and I couldn't figure out what it was. Then I realized he had changed deodorants. So I went to the store and bought him several of his old kind, then threw the new, offensively unfamiliar kind away.

4. What one place have you visited that you can't forget and want to go back to? Havasupai, Arizona.

5. Do you trust easily? Why do you ask? What's in it for you? Who ARE you even? I'm calling the cops.

6. Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think? I'm a terrible actor.

7. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days? Ha! Ha ha ha! More manic laughter inserted here. It hasn't been the greatest week.

8. Do you have a good body image? Sometimes are better than sometimes.

9. What is your favorite fruit? I once had a pear that was so incredibly delicious, I finally understood Plato. It was like this was the Pear, and all other pears were just participating in the form Pear without actually being Pear. Nothing has ever been the same since.

10. What websites do you visit daily? Yours. Also, Evil Editor and any of the blogs listed on my side bar.

11. What have you been seriously addicted to lately? Checking my email. And sugar. But the sugar thing is nothing new.

12. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is? Cindy strikes me as a genuinely nice, very warm and funny person. Also, she's an inspiration. Sure, she has a three book deal, but man, she worked for it! Go Cindy! I'm buying her book as soon as it comes out.

13. What's the last song that got stuck in your head? When Jesus Christ Was Baptized. On Sundays I do singing time with the 3- to 11-year-olds in my church. So much fun.

14. What's your favorite item of clothing? I am really excited to be able to wear jackets again. Also, I'm a fan of flip-flops.

15. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy? Not really a cold cereal enthusiast. It bugs me.

16. What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground? Depends on where it was. If it was in a store or somewhere where someone could reasonably come back looking for it, I'd turn it in. If it was on the street, I'd be very grateful.

17. What items could you not go without during the day? The internet, sad but true, and sugar. See "addictions" above, obviously.

18. What should you be doing right now? What I'm just about to--snuggle up with Hot Stuff and watch a DVD.

Question and Answer Time!

Wow! I'm humbled that you had so many questions for me. Okay, not humbled, per se, but I was quite excited. Thank you for facilitating my content-generating laziness. Here we go...

ChrisEldin said... I was gonna go with: What are you wearing now? But this might be a clean blog.:-) How about: What are you reading right now?

Well, Chris, no worries. Given that I'm a SAHM, my uniform consists of tee-shirts and some form of lounge pants. Terry cloth, today. All of it smeared with peanut butter and boogers. So yeah, I guess you're right--not clean.

As far as what I'm reading right now, allegedly I'm reading Snow by Orhan Pamuk, but I haven't been able to get past the first page yet. I'm too stressed to have enough of a literary fiction attention span lately. I'm also planning on reading Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr one of these days when I can find it at the library.

Oh, and I'm also reading Natalie's latest, Void, which she is not writing fast enough.

Natalie asks, Who do you like more? Calvin or Hobbes?

Man, I miss those two. I'd have to say either Calvin's bike or the snowmen.

Megan said... Ok, here's a random one: What kind of instant oatmeal do you like? Or do you like it at all? (I can't remember!) I am currently enjoying cinnamon apple.

Oooh, have you ever tried the cinnamon roll kind? Mmm...of course, my current issue with instant oatmeal is cleaning it out of carpet/hair/belly buttons. Somehow that makes it lose much of its appeal.

Megan said...and an incoherent one: you what do on your everyday time at banana? (Whew! That's harder than it looks!)

With two kids, I have no everyday time. Bananas are also filed under the category of things Dojo eats in such a disgusting manner that I lose all desire to ever taste one again.

Natalie said... Paper or Plastic?

Oh, thanks a lot. Either way I look like a jerk. I wish I could say I'm one of those awesome enviro-friendly people who brings my own reusable bags. But I'm not. However, I don't have a car! Do you? Yeah, I thought so! My carbon footprint = tiny enough to justify plastic bags that we always reuse.

Ashley said...Do you remember the pledge we used to say to the the lawn mower flags when we were pretending to be super smart babies?

Sadly, no, but I do remember the towels we used for diapers, and the plot to take over the world we foiled.

Renee Collins said... What . . . is your name?What . . . is your quest?What is the capitol of Assyria?

Apparently my new quest should be to re-memorize all of the capitals in the world...

*MARY* said... Will you please have a book giveaway (preferably one of your books) and rig the contest so I win?

As soon as I get published, I promise I will. As long as you keep churning out the awesomeness on your blog.

Seriously, I'm thinking of maybe crowning a Hero of Hilarity each month. Except that would take, you know, thought and stuff. But if I were to do it, Mary would definitely win for September. Plus, when I was little I wanted to be Asian when I grew up. Alas, still white, but I can pretend that I look like Mary instead. Go check her out at http://www.myglobofblog.blogspot.com/, because if nothing else, that's a seriously wonderful blog name.

(And somewhere in the blogosphere, Mary is staring at her screen, creeped out. "Dangit, another creepy blog stalker. Time to change the URL. AGAIN.")

Natalie said...Would you ever write a book about Vampires?

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: no, because I don't think I could do anything original with it, and there are SO MANY vampire novels, why bother?

Except I did have a kind of cool idea about this whiny, supernaturally clumsy girl who moves to a new town and meets this super hot guy who's all rock-hard and sparkly in the sun and wants to kill her, and then...

Wait, it's been done?

Whirlochre said... Do you surf?

Only the internet. Did you not read about my completely justified terror of currents?

Hot Stuff surfed in high school. Which, I'll admit, when we started dating I definitely thought was hot.

cindy said... how did you adjust to motherhood? how did you meet hot stuff? what do you copyedit? do you enjoy it?

Okay, I'm going to switch around the order of those questions. Wild, I know! I'm just crazy like that.

I do freelance, so really I copyedit and write whatever someone pays me to. Currently I'm working for a startup toy company called DANO2. I edit their press releases, letters, order forms, website, etc. I'm also the freelance content writer for a website building company; I interview clients, write the copy for their sites, and edit whatever text they already have. Theoretically, at least, since I'm only contracted to do so right now and they're just getting started. I also write mind-numbingly boring SEO (search engine optimized) articles for a web publishing company whenever they need me.

Some of it I enjoy more than the rest. But I love editing, and here's why: it's more active than reading, but easier than writing. For a while I was toying with the idea of starting up a manuscript editing service. Who knows, if I can't get an agent for Flash, I might still do it.

Okay, boring! Moving on.

I met Hot Stuff my first week at college. Moved out, adjusted to the newfound freedom by flirting like a madwoman (accompanied by my partner in crime, Ashley), and got ready to start classes. Then I went over to another apartment and a guy we had already met said, "This is my brother, Hot Stuff*. He looked up from where he was sitting, playing the guitar, and I was hit with the full force of those amazing, huge, gorgeous blue eyes.

That was that.

Well, almost, anyway. I flirted my hardest for a couple of weeks, he didn't care, so finally I asked him out. Progressive, I know! After our first date, he thought I was funny, and we got married the next summer. It really was just that easy.

Did I mention I turned nineteen two weeks before we got married? Ha!

Which transitions nicely into how I adjusted to motherhood. I took my last final two weeks before giving birth (yes, I was pregnant my whole senior year, it was great! Actually, I got a 4.0. Go me), and turned twenty-one two weeks after giving birth. So, I didn't have much of an adult life to give up.

Wait, you are saying, you mean you had a husband, a BA, and a BABY all by the time you turned 21? Yes, yes I did. I'm an overachiever, what can I say.

Anyway, not to mention that ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a mom. I had backup plans, mind you, but that's always been the number one goal. I'm very lucky it worked out (she says as her two-year-old is freaking out and screaming so hard he's making himself throw up).

And that concludes this month's Q&A. Thanks for the awesome questions.

* Hot Stuff is not his actual name, and definitely not what his older brother calls him.

It's That Time Again!

What time, you ask? Time again that Kiersten is too lazy to come up with a creative or interesting blog post on her own! So, please submit questions in the comment section. I'm up for anything--don't worry about it being, oh, relevant or coherent or anything like that.

And if no one has anything to ask, I'll just have to make up questions to ask myself again.

Punctuation Nation

When you write enough, you start realizing little quirks you have. Most of us have words we especially like. And I've found that we all tend to favor some form of punctuation, whether or not we should.

For example, some people, use way too many commas. If they pause in their thinking, they think the sentence should pause, too. When in doubt, leave it out. I had something of a love affair with commas in Tangle. It was mortifying when I went through and edited it.

Other people...love ellipses. What better way to create suspense...well, actually...they really lose their effect when you use them too much...

And don't even get me started on parenthetical statements (because really, we all know how much I love them. I've actually had posts where there was more content in the parenthetical statements than the actual, well, non-parenthetical statements), because I'll never stop.

And then there are the things we do TO SHOW REALLY STRONG EMOTION. Italics, ALL-CAPS, and the ever awesome endless exclamations!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!

All of these things are fine in moderation--particularly in informal writing, like, say, blogs (because really, I'm not giving up my parenthetical statements, so just drop it). But what's frustrating is when you see these trends in your actual, I'm-trying-to-sell-this-and-be-taken-seriously writing.

My pitfalls? Ever since 11th grade AP English Language, I've been in love with semi-colons. Oh, those beautiful, beautiful things. They opened up a whole new world to me; unfortunately, I overuse them now--never incorrectly, mind you, but too frequently.

And the dash--oh, how I love the dash. It's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, and I use it far too much.

So, what are your punctuation ticks?

Punny!

What do you call a news story about the North Pole?

An Arcticle.



Oh, gosh, I really need to sleep more.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Poet

I bought a chocolate cupid,
for my dear old mom.
I bought a chocolate cupid,
and now its head is gone.
I hope she will not throw a fit
cause if she does I'll have to quit
nibbling on its hands and feet,
Oh! Chocolate is so sweet!

--9-year-old Kiersten

Sometimes Are Better Than Sometimes

It's true. However, in spite of some stresses right now, I'm okay. Know why? I've got THIS:

Hot Stuff makes life great, even when it's not.

I Want

The other weekend we were driving through downtown San Diego. We live in a popular area for homeless people--they'll never freeze to death or overheat, and people are wealthy and generally generous. So, it was no surprise to see a dirty and disheveled man standing on the side of the road holding up a sign made out of cardboard.

What was surprising is what the sign said. None of the standard, "Homeless and hungry, please help," or "Homeless Vet," or even "Help--homeless--mother of four." No, this guy was far more honest. His sign said:

I want a harley.

First I laughed. Then I wondered if maybe he got more money for sheer creativity. Then I wondered what I would put on a sign if I were standing by the side of the road.

Perhaps

I want a minivan.

But let's be honest--no one wants a minivan. I want a just plain mini, of the Cooper variety. I need a minivan, unfortunately. So that's out.

Maybe

I want a house.

But even people in really nice cars rarely have those on hand. And that's one of those things that will happen eventually, regardless of the generousity of strangers.

I know!

I want an agent and a three book deal.

Sweet. I'm gonna go make my little cardboard sign RIGHT NOW. I'll let you know how it goes.

Plot Challenge

Hot Stuff's latest writing challenge was to come up with three nouns and then trade. We had to write a plot based on the nouns from the other person. Following are the nouns and what we came up with...you can see why I love being married to him.

Kiersten's:

Manticore, Mushroom, and Quicksilver

Tanya is not a happy nymph. Not only does she have a literal harpy for a mom, but her dad, the Sphinx, has just betrothed her to a manticore. Sure, the guy has a cute face—but it’s kinda canceled out when he has the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion. Desperate for a way out of her mythological nightmare of a life, Tanya does the one thing she’s been forbidden—she mixes quicksilver with a mushroom from a fairy circle. Suddenly she’s propelled out of her own world and into the normal one. At first she’s thrilled, but she soon realizes that her father’s riddles have done nothing to prepare her for real life. As she tries to navigate modern society and find true love, she wonders if maybe a mythical life wasn’t so bad after all…

Hot Stuff's:

Steamroller, Statistician, and Primal Gyrations

Title: Rollin'

Kelly couldn’t stand her work as a statistician, even though she had only worked in this field for two years. Every day as she went to work, she saw the same people, the same office, the same construction site just outside her window. Oh, she would think, that construction site! Those lovely jackhammers, those marvelous diggers, and that shiny new steamroller! If only she could—no, of course she couldn’t. But one day, after a long board meeting discussing the salaries of several senior lab rats, Kelly decided to change everything. Kelly leapt into the steamroller’s driver’s seat, instinctively turning the key, and started rollin’.

Travelling up and down the country, Kelly and her steamroller began a string of random acts of rollin’ rivaling the good deeds of Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyon. She flattened a path through the Rocky Mountains, smoothed over Pike’s Peak, and helped poor Auntie May tenderize her beef steaks. Yes sir, Kelly and her steamroller were quite the pair, that is—until Kelly got a severe case of primal gyrations.

Primal gyrations, the doctor said, would definitely put an end to Kelly’s rollin’ career. As Kelly guessed, the primal gyrations are a direct result of rollin’ twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week. Thinking all is lost, Kelly breaks out her statistician books and starts calculating percentages. However, with her steamroller parked just outside the hospital door, she has trouble concentrating on her statistics. Faced with a gut wrenching choice of pursuing her dream—and facing her own death, or choosing the safe road, Kelly’s next few days are the most important—and difficult—she will ever face.

Dear Mr Abrams

Hi JJ, it's me, Kiersten. I feel kind of awkward; I'm not sure how to say what needs to be said.

Look, we both know how much I love you. Alias was my salvation when Nayna was a colicky baby; it saved my sanity to be able to adventure with Sydney instead of bawling in the rocking chair because my baby wouldn't sleep. And even when the last couple of seasons got worse...and worse...and worse, I stuck it out, I stayed with you, because Sydney was my girl. And even though the continuity was awful, and clearly you set yourself up and had no idea how to tie up all of the loose ends, I didn't complain, because I owed you. And it was still fun.

And LOST--well, you know how I feel about LOST. And thank you, thank you, thank you for plotting it out to the end. Knowing that you know where you're going makes me a confident and happy viewer. Last season was awesome, and I can't wait until January. I'm with you until the last episode, buddy.

But, well, I'm afraid I can't see you anymore. At least, not FRINGE. (Also, can you please, please stop titling your shows in all-caps? Honestly, it's just obnoxious.) I gave it a shot--watched the series premiere like a good fan. And yeah, there was some promise there. And you were all tempting, what with Denethor and Pacey, and throwing in Matthew Abbadon. But--and there's always a but--I just don't have the energy. I can't stand knowing that you're going to throw out hints and then take three seasons to resolve them. I don't want to know what the Pattern is--mostly because I DO want to know, but I don't want to wait to know.

See, JJ, I'm trying to get an agent. And everything in my life right now is waiting, and suspense. And I can't take any more of it. So, I'm sorry. I wish you only the best--high ratings, high budgets, and lots of seasons. And I'll see you on the Island in January, okay?

Your friend,

Kiersten

Conclusion

So, after months of reading, staying informed, and watching, I have come to my conclusion:

I hate politics.

I am simply so tired of uninformed opinions rampaging across television, newspapers, discussions, blogs, you name it. I don't care who you are voting for, as long as you know WHY you are voting for them, and aren't basing it on ridiculous things. And forwarding me emails about the "evils" of my chosen candidate--He kicked a puppy in 1972! There is extensive evidence that he is, in fact, the anti-Christ! His former ex-brother-in-law's uncle is a Nazi! He EATS BABIES! etc--only makes me want to check that little box by his name even more.

What's more, please stop excusing every stupid thing your party does just because it's your party. Republicans do stupid things. Democrats do stupid things. Admit it, move on.

So, whether you are basing your decision on how the candidate will affect foreign relations (that's my main issue), or how your tax bracket will be affected, or immigration policies, whatever--please just base your decision on something, something legitimate, something other than blind party loyalty or fear or rumor, and then MOVE ON.

And whatever you do, don't email me.

Overdose of Cuteness

We went to the zoo on Saturday. I've always been disappointed in one exhibit, because I adore otters, but they are never visible. Well, Saturday we learned why they have monkeys and otters together. Three otters were in the stream, swimming around, while one little monkey stood just getting its feet wet. The otters would swim up, and the monkey would pull their tails. They would grab it, trying to pull it in the water, and the monkey would jump around, dodging them. So cute. Of course, after a few minutes, the otters got bored and swam away, and the poor monkey stayed, looking in the water and jumping around, trying to find its friends.

Fickle otters.

Cute, though.


Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Book Roast. This week they are featuring blogging editors and agents--fun stuff. And I won a prize! Awesome.

Good Things

Well, I've been inundated with good, happy, exciting, and hopeful things this week.

None of which I'm going to tell you about here. Ha! What a punk, I know.

I've been listening to some CDs from high school today. Remembering how I used to feel when I listened to them is entertaining. Oh, teenage Kiersten. How seriously you took yourself. How overwhelming your problems. How deep your thoughts. How right you were about everything.

It's fun to remember. But it's nice to have these reminders of just how passionate and intense and dramatic life was, even when it was none of those things. Teenagers are wonderful things. This is why I love YA. You can have your characters kiss after 200 pages of buildup and it's awesome--squeal-inducing, heart-fluttering, acronym-generatingly wonderful. Let's face it: adults are boring.

(Ideas taken from a discussion with Natalie. There, happy?)
(Just kidding ; ))

Telling Stories

Today, thanks to Robin, we're telling other people's stories. I was lucky enough to trade with my dear friend Natalie. This is a selection from her novel, Blood Dragon. Not only do I fully expect to see it on bookstores shelves within a couple of years, but I have no doubt that someday I'll be able to name drop Natalie and wow people with the fact that I actually read all of her stuff before it was published. (And one more plug for Natalie: not only did she write what I'm reading, she also let me send her the audio files so that she could convert them into something I could actually post. A great writer AND a techno-genius. Really, it's not fair.)

You'll notice that, thanks to better recording equipment, I no longer have the lisp my dumb camera gave me. Thank goodness. I also tried my very hardest to go slow. Because this is really, really slow for me. And you can just pretend that the background noise is atmosphere--like you're really in a high school! (That, or at my in-laws' house. Which also meant I had no time to edit, so you'll pardon the stumbles. Not bad for one take, right?)

If you are interested in hearing more of my fun, funny, and dynamic blogging friends reading other people's work, go to Robin's blog for links. I'll warn you right now, though--odds are that Natalie and I will be the only "G" rated ones. Oh yeah, and Natalie is reading a passage from my short story, Tangle. I highly recommend clicking on over to her blog; my writing in her fantastic voice--should be fun.

Writing Challenge Results

Well, we finally managed to finish our short story challenge. Please go here to read our stories!

Enjoy.