“The pen is not just a recording device; it can also be an instrument of discovery.” Billy Collins

Here are some random things from Poets & Writers Magazine

From a series of interviews with first fiction author:

With William Giraldi, author of Busy Monsters:
People sometimes ask me when I chose to be a writer and I say about the same time you chose to be a man, or a woman.

I remember wanting to be a young literary sensation, as so many do. There’s obscene pressure on writers to be the next hot young thing. As if literature were a modeling agency. But let’s be honest. Most hot young things have nothing of value to say, and how could they? They haven’t read enough. It took me twenty-five years of reading and twelve years of practice to produce a book worthy of being in the world.

And even though I am not I great fan of Twitter I found the article by Lauren Cerand How to Use Twitter to Connect with Readers interesting.
Such as…
Having them follow you back is not as important as being in the position to respond to a question or opportunity they might offer their followers.
And
Categorize your tweets using hashtags, which organize topics of interest.

Then the article called Decisions, Decisions – Three Different Paths To Publication which follows 3 women on their path to publication. Michele Toth’s path got me thinking – here is a graduate of Harvard Business School who has gone the Indie route - so why shouldn’t I?

I was in the middle of researching this when I received a request for a full from an on-line publisher of romances – but I’m not holding my breath – while the manuscript has been sent I’m continuing my research so I’ll be ready to go if it’s a no.

Six Sentence Sunday - 07/17 /11

I've mentioned previously that Russ was created with Josh Holloway (from LOST) in mind. Russ has the same rough edge and bestows nicknames...in a previous scene he took a piece of cupcake for Victoria's fingertips...anyway this is after the first kiss which you read last week....


His smile mocking but his touch gentle, Russ drew her into his arms. As he bent his head to kiss her again she placed her hand on his chest in a stopping motion, his lips inches from hers. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
He straightened and laughed. “That I do. You make a man forget himself.” He opened the door but turned his head before leaving, his golden brown hair flipped with the movement leaving a couple of strands in front of his eyes. A crooked grin appeared on his face. “See you tomorrow, cupcake.”

To create one's world in any of the arts takes courage. Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) carved out a significant place for women painters in an area of the American art community that had been exclusive to and is still dominated by men, but also she had become one of America’s most celebrated cultural icons.

Here are some quotes....
I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty.
Georgia O'Keeffe

I feel there is something unexplored about woman that only a woman can explore.
Georgia O'Keeffe

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for.
Georgia O'Keeffe

I often painted fragments of things because it seemed to make my statement as well as or better than the whole could.
Georgia O'Keeffe

One can not be an American by going about saying that one is an American. It is necessary to feel America, like America, love America and then work.
Georgia O'Keeffe

Six Sentence Sunday - 07/10 /11

From the first kiss between Russ and Victoria - Love By Design - they are in the homeowners bathroom (they are co-hosts on makeover show)

Russ growled against her lips as her tongue joined his in what became a tango, each vying for dominance. His hand slid up to her aching breast, brushing the tip with his thumb. Releasing her hold on his back to reach for his belt buckle, Victoria thought she was losing her balance as her backside dipped into the bowl of the sink. Automatically she reached back, her hand mistakenly hitting the faucet, and cold water sprayed onto her skirt.
They broke apart like two dogs in heat being separated with a garden hose.

I am not handsome or sexy. Of course, it's not like I am hopeless. Keanu Reeves

Ok so it's not part of my Quotes By Famous Women Series but I heart Keanu Reeves and you gotta to love a guy who eats a cupcake with such gusto! Here are some great quotes from Keanu (who by the way is very sweet - saw him at the WFF)

I'm Mickey Mouse. They don't know who's inside the suit.
Keanu Reeves

Kissing someone is pretty intimate, actually very intimate, and your heart always kind of skips a beat before you do that.
Keanu Reeves

The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.
Keanu Reeves

...and you have to love a guy who has a sense of humor....

People were saying that David Geffen and I had gotten married and it just blew me away. Not that they thought I was gay, but that they thought I could land a guy that hot. Keanu Reeves

On a good night, I get underwear, bras, and hotel-room keys thrown onstage... You start to think that you're Tom Jones.
Keanu Reeves

Ok - I would not throw my bra at Keanu Reeves - 1) I very much need my bra 2) It's so big it might hurt him!
See I have a sense of humor too!

Six Sentence Sunday - 6/26/11

Another six from Love By Design. One of my favorite scenes from the book. The cast and crew are on a break eating cupcakes (celebrating a birthday) Russ declines but can't keep his eyes off of Victoria eating one and nearly slices off a finger - Victoria rushes over and tells him he should be more careful.


"Maybe, if you took your little tea party inside I wouldn’t be distracted.” He'd be just fine if cupcakes were banned from the set and while he was at it, he'd outlaw those tight, short skirts she paraded around in.
“Somebody’s cranky.” She offered her last bite up to Russ and added, “That’s what happens when you pass up cake.”
Instead of reaching for it with his hand, his mouth swooped down and took it from her fingers, licking the tips with his tongue. He relished the gasp of surprise on her face more than the rush of the sugary treat. “If I’d known you were going to hand feed me, I wouldn’t have said no.”

Morning comes whether you set the alarm or not. Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin is one of my favorite writers. She makes me want to write - but at the same time makes me realize I'm woefully inadequate. Here are some fabulous quotes from her:

My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.
Ursula K. Le Guin

We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains.
Ursula K. Le Guin

What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?
Ursula K. Le Guin



The only questions that really matter are the ones you ask yourself.
Ursula K. Le Guin

The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. Le Guin

The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.
Ursula K. Le Guin

There are no right answers to wrong questions.
Ursula K. Le Guin