Hunkering down

Hello all,

Sable Angel here. By the time I write you again, Dragons Among the Ice should be close to a complete novel.

Tuesday, November 1, I start a challenge I took up last year with a group of crazy writers determined to put their tukuses in chairs and create a novel. The challenge is the National November Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for short. After the last go round, I inquired about the program parameters to set up for myself during the rest of the year. A certain word goal is set and the number of days to reach that goal is put into the mix. When the two are calculated, a word count per day is determined so the final count will be reached within the timeframe.

The goal is to make the word count each day and, after the set number of days, one has the beginning of a novel. For those who write shorter novels, a complete novel is done at the final counting.

Granted, there are those who have the natural tenacity and structure to make this a normal happening... I am not one of those gifted souls. I'm afraid I procrastinate -- a lot. When I feel unsure of my writing abilities or my 'other' life interrupts, I allow those distractions to rule my passion.

This is something I'm working hard to correct. Losing a friend, at a very young age, to cancer has shaken me up and given me pause to think seriously about where I want the rest of my life to go.

I'll be lost in the land of Dragons [and motorcycle enthusiasts] for the next month.

Keep flying high...

Sable Angel

Angel Quotes

Angels are the light that illuminates our souls divinity.

checking in

I had a good writing week. The revision is not going as fast as I'd like. I keep finding things that are in my head which didn't make to the paper.

Join The Weekly Check In.

This is the Rogue's Angels weekly check-in. Every Thursday we encourage the Angels and visitors to let us know how their writing is going.

How well are you doing?

Had problems this week? That's ok. Just sit down this coming week and write. Whatever you do, don't let difficulties from the week before get in your way this week.

Every word is one word closer to the finished product.

Had a great week? Keep it up, the momentum is on your side.

Lucky 13 Halloween Superstitions

1. Cats You know that old Halloween superstition that says black cats are bad luck? Well, once it was believed that all cats with a black coat were actually the devil, or eaten up by evil spirits.

In the middle ages, black cats were hunted and burned on Easter. (poor little kitties!) But, today, lots of families have black cats as pets and don't give it a second thought. I guess we outgrew that superstition! Good thing too, my little kitty is black and I'd move mountains before I'd let someone come and try and hunt her down!

Here's just the opposite of the black cat halloween superstition: in Britain, they believe white cats are bad luck!

2. Nuts Another old British Halloween superstition is, people at one time believed that Satan was a nut-gatherer, so, on Halloween night, nuts were used as magic charms.

3. Candles An old saying was, if the flame on a candle goes out and it happens to be Halloween, then you have a ghost visiting you! I bet that was a great tactic for keeping kids "scared straight!"

4. Witches This Halloween superstition is about those ugly witches! Here's how it goes: some people claimed that if you put your clothes on inside out and then walked backwards on the night of Halloween, then at midnight, you would see a witch riding through the sky.

Witches have such an interesting and long history, that would take a whole other website to talk about them, but some people believed that witches were the devil. Tests were devised to see if a woman was a witch or not.

Fearful crowds would throw a woman suspected of being a witch by throwing her in a body of water. If she floated, she was definitely a witch (YIKES! I guess nobody knew back then that women NATURALLY float better than men!) If she died, she was not a witch (sheesh! not a great scenario for these poor women!)

5. Bells When you ring a bell on Halloween, all the scary, evil spirits will fly away. Does that include doorbells? Think how many get rung on Halloween night!

6. Owls Owls hooting used to scare a lot of people. Some people believed that on Halloween, owls would dive down and eat the souls of anyone dying that night. So, if you heard a hooting owl, quickly pull your pocket out and leave it hanging. Then you'd be safe from the diving owls. (What imagination!)

7. Celtic custom Here's a really good ol' superstition... On Halloween, a bonfire was built and watched until it went out. Then the ashes were used to make a huge circle where every family in the village would place a stone just inside the circle. the next day, if any stone was moved or damaged, then that meant someone in that family was going to die within the next year.

8. Bats If a bat flies into your house, beware! You may have some ghosts or spirits visiting!

9. More about bats Or, on Halloween night, if you see a bat flitting around early in the evening, then you'll have good weather the next day.

10. And a little more about bats And, last, but spookily not least, if bats fly around your house on Halloween night 3 times, death is inevitable.

11. Warding off evil spirits Want to rid yourself of all evil? Just walk backwards around your house three times before the sun set on halloween and that would banish all evil. (if only it were that simple!)

12. More warding... You can bury animal bones in your front yard (I think that's against the law now!). Or, put a picture of an animal outside near your front door.

13. SPIDERS! If you happen to see a spider on Halloween (what are the chances?) then the spirit of a loved one is watching over you. (this is my favorite superstition...)

Angel Quotes

Carve quiet spaces in your life and in the silence you will hear the angels.

Join The Weekly Check In.

This is the Rogue's Angels weekly check-in. Every Thursday we encourage the Angels and visitors to let us know how their writing is going.

How well are you doing?

Had problems this week? That's ok. Just sit down this coming week and write. Whatever you do, don't let difficulties from the week before get in your way this week.

Every word is one word closer to the finished product.

Had a great week? Keep it up, the momentum is on your side.

TOP 13 HALLOWEEN TREATS

Current project: LEGACY series

Status: Doing edits to book #3

Posted by: Amber Angel

I love fall--though the rain and chilly temperatures came a bit too early for me this year. However, here are some Halloween treats guaranteed to cheer me up:

1) Caramel apples.

2) Pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting.

3) Odd-shaped and different-colored pumpkins/gourds.

4) Watching Peanuts and waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

5) A fanciful pumpkin carriage (a la Cinderella).

6) Pumpkin cheesecake with caramel swirls.

7) Pumpkin mousse pie.

8) Happy and ornate jack-o-lanterns.

9) Pumpkin spice scented candles surrounding a soak in a whirlpool tub--heavenly!

10) A harvest moon hanging low on the horizon.

11) Kids in homemade Halloween costumes.

12) Picking out pumpkins with my kids and grandkids.

13) Houses haunted by friendly spirits.

Can you tell I like to eat and don't like scary things? LOL!

Care to share one of your top Halloween treats?

Angel Quotes

The angels light another star Each time there is a birth To celebrate each precious child The good Lord sends to earth.

checking in

I had a very good writing week. Tuesday was a great energizing day when all of us angels had our TV interview. It's always refreshing to get together with other writers.

Join The Weekly Check In.

This is the Rogue's Angels weekly check-in. Every Thursday we encourage the Angels and visitors to let us know how their writing is going.

How well are you doing?

Had problems this week? That's ok. Just sit down this coming week and write. Whatever you do, don't let difficulties from the week before get in your way this week.

Every word is one word closer to the finished product.

Had a great week? Keep it up, the momentum is on your side.

Sparkleeeee!!!!!!

Oh my goodness! All the angels got together yesterday, gathered our wings and bundled all our books into our arms then flew to the cable TV offices where we appeared together on a show featuring Northwest writers.
In a very strange twist, we all appeared wearing shades of purple in one form or another. Just goes to show you, angels think alike!

We were very fortunate to have been invited to appear on the show. While we all shared some pre-camera jitters, the interview went very well. According to an outsider watching the taping, we looked relaxed and got the message across about our books.

You just can't beat the company of good friends on a new journey. Let's hope our brief fling with television serves to promote our books and helps RoguePhoenixPress rocket to the top.

Go Angels!

Sable Angel

13 of My Favorite Sounds

1. A baby cooing.
2. The crunch of snow under my feet.
3. Fire truck sirens.
4. The words 'I love you.'
5. Josh Groban's music--it's great to play while writing.
6. Taps.
7. Rain on the roof.
8. Frogs.
9. The creaking of a wooden rocker.
10. My grandchildren laughing.
11. The waves alone the beach.
12. The snap & crackle of a campfire.
13. Wind rustling through trees.

Angel Quotes

An angel without freckles is like the heavens without stars.

Angel check in and other tidbits

This week I actually wrote--on Post It notes but I wrote! Considering I've been dancing on my wingtips with blogs and book signings, I'm glad I got that much accomplished.

Let me extrapolate...
Wednesday, a book signing where I sold six books in two hours. Not world shattering but I'll take it.
Thursday, blogging on Raine Delight's blog at www.authorrainedelight.wordpress.com.
Saturday, I have an appearance at a get together for a VERY special Angel to help her celebrate her birthday and retirement!
Sunday, I have a book signing from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.
Tuesday, October 11, we Angels have a TV interview for a local Cable program.

I've gotten contact numbers and names of people for two new places for book signings on the Oregon Coast [Whohoo! An excuse to go to the coast!]and will be pursuing those in an effort to keep Shattered Tomorrows in the public eye.

Then... [deep breath] I'll be participating in the National November Writing Month or NANOWRIMO for short. Last year it helped me to get the second dragon book started. I'll be using it to push myself and write book three in the dragon series, Dragons Among the Ice.

Now for the tidbits. I know we all wonder what does and doesn't work in the promotion/publicity/marketing part of our writing. Personally, I felt Amazon often asked too much until I heard 75% of the people at my book signing on Wednesday comment they had read the first chapter of Shattered Tomorrows on Amazon.com and had been hooked by the story, that's why they came to the signing. I had to mentally give Amazon kudos for bringing me readers.

Hang in there, guys. It takes a while but all your hard efforts do pay off.

Keep your wings up and ride the thermals.
Sable Angel

check in

This was a good writing week. I wrote everyday.
Cinnamon

Join The Weekly Check In.

This is the Rogue's Angels weekly check-in. Every Thursday we encourage the Angels and visitors to let us know how their writing is going.

How well are you doing?

Had problems this week? That's ok. Just sit down this coming week and write. Whatever you do, don't let difficulties from the week before get in your way this week.

Every word is one word closer to the finished product.

Had a great week? Keep it up, the momentum is on your side.

Thirteen

Hello all,

We angels got together and decided to write about thirteen things we know. What does the word "thirteen" bring to mind when you first hear it? Is it a fearful connotation? Curiosity? Luck?

We each have our own emotions attached to the concept. As a writer, I fancy my words can evoke pictures, feelings and sensations from my readers. I hope I'm hitting the mark by my use of words as pictures on paper.

My thirteen items will be the best memories from one of the thirteen states where I've lived. For those uninitiated... my father was a military man who was stationed all over the country. When I left home, I had the itchy foot and continued to follow the wanderlust to satiate my own desire to see the world. I'll try not to take up two pages with my recollections!

I'm going to start from the East Coast and go west. These memories span a childhood starting sixty years ago. I suspect things have changed a bit since I was there.


1. New Jersey - Walking to school in the snow; crisp air, the crunching of new snowfall beneath my boots.
2. Virginia - Thunderstorms to rattle the buildings. The sounds of rain pounding so heavy on the roof I thought the angels were tap dancing and, afterward, the smell of freshly washed grass.
3. North Carolina - This memory is when I was four years old. Walking barefoot down the lane to the farm, the dirt so soft it squished through my toes with the consistency of silk; warm and velvety to the touch. The smell of fresh tobacco leaves hanging in the barn drying.[NOT at ALL the same as cigarettes.]
4. Florida - I could wax poetic for pages about Florida. I went here after I left home and spent five years in the Sunshine State. I visited Disney World the first year it opened. Hours and hours were spent on warm, white sands gazing at the turquoise blue of the Gulf; coral, peach and pink colored clouds reflected off silver-topped teal blue waters. [Told ya I could go on forever!]
5. Alabama - We moved to this state right after Martin Luther marched in Birmingham. [Yes, I'm that old.] I have memories of hot, muggy summer nights on the front porch swing of our home sipping on cool glasses of iced tea. Lazy days fretting about what to do while listening to the British revolution of music on AM radio. [What I wouldn't give to have that time back again!]
6. Texas - Stationed here a mere six months, I have very vivid recollections of Mt. Franklin towering over the town and being so close to 'another' country tweaked my young curiosity about another culture. I learned a very important lesson during this short lived duty station. I'm truly blessed every day of my life. A quick trip to the border town of Juarez, Mexico exposed me to what real poverty was and helped me to appreciate everything I had.
7. Utah - What a magnificent land! The beauty of the earth is heart stopping. Zion National Park has rock formations that will boggle the senses and the canyons and valleys going from the salt flats to the mountains behind Ogden and Salt Lake will render one speechless with their colorful majesty in fall.
8. Nevada - My memory is from when I was two and a half. I recall stepping into Lake Tahoe and the water being so clear and cold my teeth chattered.
9. Idaho - I experienced the panhandle, Coeur d'Alene and Orofino. High desert punctuated with tall pine trees towering up the mountain sides. Hidden lakes interspersed throughout surprise the traveller.
10. California - I moved up and down this large land quite a bit. As large as eight or nine states put together on the East Coast, California has the same diversities one would expect in such a variety of states. But I'll be brief: I went to Disneyland the first year it opened. I lived in southern and northern California and camped in many of the national parks. Suffice it to say California has the contrasts of tiny towns and big cities; deserts that reach 120 degrees in the summer [Death Valley] and mountains so high they will kill you in the winter [Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevadas].
11. Oregon - My current home. Ocean to desert in less than six hours. Big cities and small towns; Portland, the Columbia Gorge and Pendleton roundup. Everything any one could wish for is in this state the size of Germany. And great people to boot!
12. Alaska - Darkness twenty hours a day [great when you're a twenty something nightowl!]and ice crystals in the air. It reminded me of someone dumping sugar which froze in place from a plane. Nose freezing the moment you take a breath; and when I visited the Portage Glacier, light blue glacial chunks so close to the shore you could crawl on them.
13.Hawaii - Soft trade winds whispering across your face as you listen to the rustle of palm trees providing shade; warm, friendly people who remind you life is too short to worry and a sense of well-being unmatched anywhere else in the United States.

Those are my thirteen most vivid memories of amazing places I've lived. In all my travels I've learned each place has positive points and negative points. I choose to dwell on the positive.

What are your thirteen positives?

Sable Angel