Friday, July 6, 2012

Lists, Part the Fourth


  1. At some point in watching the Olympic Trials last week, I realized/remembered that neither Jonny Moseley nor Scott Hamilton would be doing commentating for the Summer Olympics (boo!). So I Tweeted about it. And Jonny Tweeted back (apparently we both think Scott is awesome). So I Tweeted him again. And he Tweeted back again. Which pretty much made my whole week.
  2. It apparently doesn't take much to make me happy.
  3. I read this article on spoiled children in between batches of biscuits for my mother-in-law's wedding, and it gave me a lot of food for thought.
  4. Did I mention that I made thirteen batches of biscuits for my MIL's wedding? At between 12-13 biscuits per batch, that's ... a lot of biscuits. Along with farm-fresh berries, they made excellent strawberry shortcake.
  5. Also read this article on indie publishing and thought it was great.
  6. As I am working on writing short stories in anticipation of indie publishing them, this post on pricing was fantastic. As an entrepreneur, this makes total sense to me (and in fact echoes what I am always telling my sister as regards her metal-smithing business).
  7. In between everything else this week, I made Joy a sundress, pattern from this book. It only took me four days, which would translate to about four hours for the normal seamstress (seamster? tailor? individual who sews regardless of gender?). I'm slow. But I love this book. This is the fourth dress I've made for my littles from it, and all of them have been fantastic. Plus it's helping me work through my overflowing stash of fabric!
  8. Speaking of short stories, I have three shorts and one novella done, and am actively seeking critique partners. One is straight-up historical, one is historical fantasy, one is a contemporary spy story, and the novella is a light-hearted contemporary spy story as well (I have visions of eventually putting together a collection of spy/detective stories featuring female leads), if anyone is interested. I would also LOVE to read your story, if you have something that needs critiquing!
  9. I made this pie for the Fourth. I don't think I let it chill enough, because it turned into more of pie soup, but it was still AMAZINGLY good. Joy informed me that she likes it more than strawberry-rhubarb crunch. Shocking!
  10. I am getting my hair cut, about two months overdue, on Saturday. Can't wait to take care of this shaggy mop. Back to this look for me!


Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!


19 comments:

  1. That spoiled-kids article is really interesting; thanks for posting it!

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    1. I found it quite thought-provoking.

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  2. Oh that pie looks so yummy!! That is so cool that Jonny tweeted you back.

    Have a great weekend.

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    1. I already thought he was pretty awesome, and the fact that he tweeted me back not once, but twice, just confirmed it. :-)

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  3. #1= Awesome! It's so much fun to know they are... real...people... ;)

    #8 Me, me, me! Pick me! Although I haven't read a great number of spy stories, so I might not have the best input for those. Still, I love reading and critiquing. :)

    And that pie does look so good... I keep telling myself I'll make a fresh strawberry pie someday, but I still never have!

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    1. You're an angel, Val! And I'm still up for critiquing your story, too, if you're so inclined. This CP business does run both ways!

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  4. Just stopping by to say hello, Louise! :D

    Fun list - and good for you putting it out there for a crit partner! I found mine through a randon book reader's networking site. And, lo and behold, she only lives about an hour away so we lucked out! (We've been able to meet a few times face-to-face.)

    Good luck with all you have going on. My goodness you are a busy lady! :D

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    1. Hello to you too, Tracy! Nice to have you back in the blogging world.

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  5. Hey, I'm thinking about publishing some short stories as an ebook, including some unpublished ones. I'd like someone to have a look at those. I can't fit in any more novel critiques, but I'd definitely be happy to look at your stories! If you're interested, email me at mcwilfo(at)gmail(com).

    The pie looks great!

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    1. Thank you, Nick! I'll definitely be sending you an email sometime next week. My email is elouise.bates(at)gmail(dot)com, if you want to send me yours.

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  6. Hey Louise - spy story? Novella? I'd love to swap with you. I have a novella based on my main character's mother-a spy story too. It's not ready to be beta read but it will at some point. Sounds like you already have offers though.

    And it sounds like you've been incredibly busy!

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    1. Laura, I'll take as many extra eyes critiquing my stuff as possible - so I'd be thrilled to exchange novellas with you!

      Carl and I both crave a simple, quiet life, yet it seems we constantly get sucked into busyness without ever realizing how it happens. Isn't that the way it always happens?

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  7. Gah, that looks so yummy! I want some. Now.

    That was an interesting articles on pricing, thanks Louise!

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    1. My pleasure! I always like sharing the interesting things I find online :-)

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  8. I just got to read the spoiled kids article, and it's made me more determined to make the kids responsible for things they should be responsible for-- getting dressed, picking up their own toys, carrying their dishes to the sink.... I never thought of them as SPOILED because I'm NOT overprotective and I WON'T buy them stuff and I WON'T make them a separate dinner from everyone else... but I DO do entirely too much that they should be doing on their own. This makes it easier to say No and put my foot down!

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    1. It is HARD to train oneself out of the mentality of MUST HAVE WORLD REVOLVE AROUND CHILDREN, and equally hard (for me, *cough*) to not use this as an excuse to MAKE CHILDREN REVOLVE AROUND ME, but there is a lot of good solid truth in that article, and I think we're slowly finding our way to a good balance.

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  9. That's really cool that Jonny tweeted you back! I probably would buy your novella\book of short stories in a second considering I love what you write on this blog. And me too, it doesn't take much to make me happy -- just put me in the movie theater and I'm in heaven.

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    1. Aw, thanks! I'll be keeping all my blog readers updated on the finishing/publishing process as it crawls along.

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