Fixing our Fifth Wheel

A little over two years ago, we bought a fifth wheel camper. It wasn’t expensive, it wasn’t new, and it certainly wasn’t perfect, but we managed to scrape all of our savings together and pay cash for it, so it’s ours.

Last winter, we got the nose and the roof fixed, which means I won’t get rained on in the middle of the night again this year. Awesome! We got it cheap because it had a wall missing in the back. We fixed that, too. The man did such a good job you can barely tell it needed to be repaired.

Then, came the wall border.

Unfortunately, the trailer came from the factory with a wall border along the wall at a height where you might see a chair rail in someone’s home. Do you think we could find a border to match?

No. Of course not.

Could we find a border that was even close?

No. Of course, we couldn’t.

Can we even find an easy-to-apply stick-on border? Do they even make that? They sure do! But do they make it in a design that I would like in the main room of my home away from home?

Nope. Unless, of course, I wanted Disney characters, hunting scenes, or something you’d find in a pub bathroom. Umm… no thanks.

Instead, we are compelled to purchase a pre-pasted wallpaper border and hang it ourselves.

Uh, oh.

After an exhaustive two days of deciding what our selection would be, we settled on an unobtrusive border with flowers and hummingbirds. It might match our curtains, or it might not. It’s difficult to tell when trying to hold the laptop up to the wall. Still, we liked it, so into the digital cart it went, and we waited. Ten days, we waited for the pretty hummingbird wallpaper border to arrive at our home.

Me: “The border is here!”

The man: “Great! Does it look as good as it did online?”

Me: “Yes.” Frowning. “I’m not sure this color is going to match the curtains, though.”

The man: “It’s too late now. We’ve already spent our budget on it.”

Me: “True.” Sigh.

The man: “What’s the matter now?”

Me: “I’m afraid to hang it.”

The man: “Why?” He looks at me as though I’ve lost my mind.

Actually, I think I lost it a while ago. I just haven’t given him the update.

Me: “Because I have this horrible feeling we’re going to be in here looking like Lucy and Ethel in that episode where they try to wallpaper Lucy’s bedroom and end up covering everything in wallpaper and glue.”

Does anyone remember seeing that old episode of I Love Lucy, where Lucy and Ethel hang the wallpaper in Lucy’s bedroom? If you haven’t, you should watch it. It might give you an idea of our first couple of attempts at hanging that damned border.

The man: “Who’s who?”

Me: “Well, it’s obvious that I’m Lucy.” I pointed to my hair. “Red hair. Duh.”

The man: “So I’m Ethel, huh?”

Me: “Well, you can’t be Ricky or Fred, neither of them would ever get up to this kind of mischief with Lucy. That’s strictly Ethel. Ethel.”

The man: “Well, if I’m Ethel, she’s going to do something right for a change.” He pulls out his tablet, taps on the screen for a few seconds and grins as he brings up a YouTube how-to video on hanging wallpaper border.

He’s so smart. He might drive me crazy with his tendency to over plan things sometimes, but for this project, his usually annoying habit really paid off.

We finished our border, and it looks great. Now I just need to finish making those curtains. I look at my daughter…

“Hey, Ethel!”

New Release

Tempting Tabitha - Zolon Warrors #4

The Zolon warriors are back in another humorous and sexy tale! Meet Charly's sister in this thrilling continuation in the Zolon Warriors Magic, New Mexico series.

She was purrfectly content until he came into her life.

Tabitha Campbell has lived mostbe of her life as a cat. For the last few years, she's been posing as her long-lost sister's pet. She's perfectly content being her sister's protector and avoiding having to deal with the headaches of being human. Life was going well until he showed up and ruined everything.

He was having the time of his life, tomcatting around until she came into his life.

Deno Brewerigeron, formerly of the faraway planet Zolon, has always been the happy-go-lucky twin. He was certain he would always be a raider since he loves women--all kinds of women--he refused to think about settling down with just one and evolving into a shapeshifting warrior until he met her.

Tabitha is at her wit's end. Her identity has been revealed, and she has a sexy alien shapeshifter from outer space who is trying to convince her that being normal is highly overrated. What's a girl to do when life suddenly no longer makes sense?

Writer’s Block and how I deal with it.

Years ago, I rarely got writer’s block. I always knew what I wanted to write and how to write it. Lately however, I’ve been plagued with stress from many directions. I’ve had health issues, and schedule changes and things just don’t seem to mesh together the way they used to.

So… what did I do? I sat down and wrote up a plan, a strategy, if you will. What I want to get accomplished in a day. I want to write at least 1000 words a day. That isn’t impossible for me. I know this because I used to write 10,000 words a day quite regularly. I want to do certain things around my home, whether it’s dishes, laundry or just emptying the trash can in the kitchen. I need to work at the day job.

Unfortunately, I work an hour from my home and I carpool to save gas money and the three of us rarely have the same schedule so doing things at home are difficult on days I work. Sometimes, I’m away from my house 14 hours a day, which makes writing that much more difficult. I have a pad of paper I use during my breaks to write down fleeting thoughts and ideas. I carry a netbook or mini laptop to record those ideas after work, while I’m waiting for the others to finish up so we can head home.

I digress...or did I? Can you see how these things can cause a block? If not, and you’re still writing loads every day. More power to you. If you can, welcome to the club.

I’ve begun to treat writing a bit like a workout—a workout for the brain. All day long, I think about what if scenarios for the situations my characters are in. What if they did this, what if they did that?

What if Carrie wasn’t really the birth mother of the baby in her nursery, what if her baby was with another family, what if he had been kidnapped at birth because Carrie is the direct descendant of the ruler of a country, or a world and someone has stolen her child to lay claim to the child’s rightful kingdom? What if Carrie is a vampire, and her child something special, because its father is an angel or a demon, or a superhero?

Exercises such as the what if and why questions some authors practice are essential to their writing, to their world building. I use as many of these as I can. What are your characters motivations? If you can’t think of something to write. Think of these things and eventually, you’ll think yourself right out of that block.

Some authors--and I include myself in this--switch manuscripts when they run into a block. Sometimes, just keeping the words flowing, even if it’s not in the same story, can help you work through the corner you’ve written your characters into.  This can be a good tactic if you don’t have deadlines.

If that doesn’t work, ask yourself what are your characters thinking? Once you figure out what they’re thinking or doing, you should be able to move on. If you still can’t move on, give yourself an exercise. Write about your day, or something that upset you. Sometimes, just the act of writing about anything can get you back on track.

What if you have a deadline? It’s Wednesday and you have until Monday to finish your project. What do you do? Try sitting down and writing something, anything, that takes your characters to another place. Then go back and read it. Sometimes, you’ll find that while it might not fit exactly where you’ve written it, it will fit somewhere else in the story. Reread the last few chapters and try to remember what you were thinking as you wrote them. At one time, you had an idea of where you wanted to go or you wouldn’t have written it in the first place.

With luck, one of these exercises will get you writing again. If it doesn’t, sit down with your favorite treat and indulge in something you love. You’ll deserve it after all of that hard work.

Good Luck!

Until the next time, 

Tianna

Or you could try these:

Ten Websites That Help Cure Writer's Block

Gideon's Angel - Coming Soon to Extasy Books!

A while ago, I posted a character interview with Gideon Molfetta and Tara Tarolf on this blog. 

Their story has been a long time in coming. I apologize to readers who have been patiently waiting for another installment in this series. Just remember, the best way to get what you want is to write, message me on Facebook or Twitter and ask. It's that simple. I promise! 

So, this short, unedited excerpt of Gideon's Angel is for those of you who have been waiting for it these past few years. Thank you for writing and asking me to finish it. 

Gideon's Angel:

Frumpy and forty-something, Tara Tarolf, is a vampire slayer. After losing her husband to cancer, she devotes her life to making the streets safe for humans by hunting down rogue Cartuotey and bringing the hammer of justice down upon them. In her opinion, men were too much work. She already had one husband, she wasn't looking to add another man to her life. 

On the verge of committing suicide, Gideon Molfetta is everything she had ever dreamed of in a man. It was too bad he was on the verge of committing suicide to avoid becoming the most dreaded of his kind and she wasn't a guide. His kind mated with guides and Tara had no idea what her kind even was. Could she convince Gideon that his mate was worth waiting for, and would he ever tell her what it was he knew about her kind?

Excerpt:

“So, as you can see,” I said, my hands still raised high above my head. “There’s really no reason to kill me.” Pausing, I peered through eerie silence at the man who still had the laser sight of his pistol trained on the base of my throat and sighed with relief. “It’s about damned time.” The words came out almost a snarl. Where did a common thug get such an expensive pistol?

Dropping my arms, I rolled my aching shoulders forward and back, trying to release the tension from holding my hands up over my head for so long. In the mood to be nasty, I had an incredible urge to kick the jerk in the crotch for preying on innocents the way he did. Instead, I stood glaring at him for a minute before I tossed the idea aside.

The guy stared off into space, his eyes unfocussed. Admittedly, it was the first time I had ever been proud of my dubious gift to talk someone into a mindless stupor. Still, it was better than killing the jerk.

The twenty-seven dollars in my wallet wasn’t worth dying—or killing—over. The man had no idea who he’d been dealing with. If the darkness was a thief’s best friend then it was my lover. I could hide from the world in the daytime. At night, I could practically disappear.

I scurried away from the idiot, grabbing his gun before I left. I didn’t need it but I didn’t want him descending on some unsuspecting mundane with it either. Since a mundane—also known as a person with no magical abilities—wouldn’t have any way to defend themselves like me, I figure it’s my duty to keep scum like that from preying on them if I can.  

It was a good thing a cold front came down from Canada earlier in the morning and I had been wearing gloves. Leaving my prints on the gun was out of the question, since it was about to make an unannounced appearance at the nearest police station.

I moved quickly out of my mugger’s line of sight, unsure of how long his stupor would last and whether or not he had another gun hidden on his filthy person. Buildings blurred by me as I ran through the dark streets looking for a cop.

Glancing back through the darkness I frowned. I had lulled him into that stupor, because I hadn’t wanted to hurt the jackass. I hadn’t accidentally killed anyone yet and I certainly didn’t want to start any time soon.

However, I wouldn’t go so far as saying I’ve never taken a life. In fact, I take lives on a fairly regular basis. But then, I’m a vampire hunter. Taking lives is kind of a prerequisite for the job. Not that I get a salary for it. Besides, killing a vampire wasn’t like killing a human was it? I mean…they’re dead already. Right?

For those of you who haven't already read books one through three, They're available at most retail e-book outlets. 

Look for: 

Book 1: Virgin's Blood My very first release. I hope to get a new cover soon.

Book2: Alicia: The Awakening

Book 3: Afraid to Dream

Shades of Green

Shades of Green

Nymphs are tiny little creatures. How can one possibly be the mate of two huge polar bear shifters?

Thal had never realized how boring her life as a nymph was until a group of ogres kidnap her and her kin. When she manages to help her friends and family escape captivity, she never expected to run into two men and three leprechauns intending to save them, as well.

When Kiran and Gaige mount a rescue with three unlikely partners, they couldn’t be more surprised to realize that one of the tiny nymphs is their mate. Has Mother Nature played a nasty joke on them or is there more to the tiny lass than what they think?

Excerpt:

“What in bloody hell do ye think is going on here?” Gaige glanced at his cousin, noting that Kiran appeared as confounded as he felt, at the moment.

The ground, which should be covered in thick-green grass and dark, fertile loam as it was every spring appeared gray as the snow melted. There were no light-green blades of grass, no clover.  The soil wasn’t as it should be either. It was as though the very ground was ill.

Trees, usually sprouting leaves the size of squirrels ears by this time of year, still lay dormant. Nothing green peered through the bed of dead leaves and equally dead-looking trees. The forest appeared as lifeless and barren as it did in the middle of winter.

The scent of moist soil and rotting vegetation permeated everything as they walked through the woods hunting game for the day’s meals. There was nothing. The squirrels and rabbits stayed sheltered deep in their burrows. Some of them stared out at them as they passed, their little hearts pounding with fear at the sight and scent of the two predators striding through the quiet forest.

Shades of Green ~ Highland Bears #5 a polar bear shifter series

An Interview With A Vampire ~ Repost

Tara: “Hi, everyone! I’m Tara Torolf. I’m a vampire slayer. Tianna had a vampire contact her and asked for an interview to prove they aren’t what everyone thinks. Can you imagine me rolling my eyes? Of course they’re everything they seem. I should know. Though… to be honest, most of them don’t kill their vict—er…donors. 

“Since Tianna couldn’t do this interview due to her deadlines fast approaching—one of them being my book she hasn’t even started yet, she asked me to interview this…this vampire. I know the answers to most of these questions already, but I’ll ask them since it’s what she wants. 

“Here with me today, is Gideon Molfetta. He is a Cartuotey here with me to set the record straight before he decides to end his existence. It’s a shame really, considering he is a very good looking man—vampire—whatever. 

 “Hello, Gideon. Tianna sends her regards and says thank you for joining me here today.” 

 Gideon: “Hello, Tara. It is a pleasure as always.” *winks and tries for a sexy grin.* 

Tara: “Don’t start that with me, Gideon. You know I’m a vampire slayer and Tianna’s transparent attempt at matchmaking is not going to work. Now for the questions. “Do you actually drink blood, or do you suck it up through your teeth like some sort of weird straw?” 

Gideon: “We drink it, actually, though if we’re in dire need it goes up through our teeth and immediately into our bloodstream. *waggles his brows* “It’s a little anti climactic if you know what I mean.” 

Tara :“Um… I imagine it is. Is it getting hot in here? .“I know garlic keeps everyone away, but what about silver, crosses and holy water?” 

Gideon: “Um… Silver is for werewolves. That whole thing about it hurting vampires is a myth. It does looks good on us though. As far as crosses and holy water, we are not the spawn of Satan. These things do nothing to us.” 

Tara: “What about wooden stakes?” 

Gideon: “I don’t think a wooden steak would taste delicious at all.” *laughs* 

Tara: “Do you guys sparkle in the sunlight like the vampires in those movies and novels everyone loves so much or do you actually turn to ash in the sunlight?” 

Gideon: *Laughs* “The only thing sunlight does to us is make us tan.” 

Tara: “I thought that nice tan of yours was from a jar.” 

Gideon: *sits back and rests his arms over the back of the chair. 

It really shows off the bulge in his pants that puts another question to mind* 

Gideon: “Not on your life. It’s all me, sweetheart. 

Tara: “Is what they say about the vampire libido true?” 

Gideon: *wink* “Where do you think all of the legends come from?” 

Tara: “That’s not an answer, Gideon. Come on, spill. True or not?” 

Gideon: “Oh, it’s true, sweetling.” 

Tara: “Prove it!” Gideon: “Is tonight good?” 

Tara:  “I didn’t mean with me! Why are you undressing here? Oh, my goodness! Are all Cartuotey built like that? Hoo! Is it getting hot in here or is it just me? Okay, everyone. That’s it for today’s questions. I have a few more interviews to do so make sure you check back often to see who’s in the hot seat next! I have to run now. I have this huge thing on my to do list. See you next time.”

Someone asked me this question recently and I thought I would blog about it. There are many things I would like to have with me including an infinite supply of clean clothes, but let’s be realistic and say that we didn’t have much time to salvage things from a sinking boat. So, what kind of stuff would I want? I would want things that would help me survive as long as possible while there. This is the list I came up with.


1. I would want to have Kevin with me because I wouldn’t want to be stranded anywhere without him. Besides the fact that I love him, he’s a very handy guy to have around.

2. A two-pack of giant bic lighters.

3. My laptop bag (waterproofed) as it sits now with ten dvds in it, the laptop filled to the gills with games and e-books. Some romance, some how-to books like How to build a treehouse with a hatchet a shovel and two hunting knives and how to prepare seafood, and topical fruits and vegetables over an open fire and a few that may interest Kevin for entertainment and a solar charger. Okay, I don’t have a solar charger in the bag right now, but the rest is there, with the exception of the how-to e-books I mentioned.

4. A hatchet

5. Two hunting knives

6. A shovel

7. Fishing line and hooks

8. A frying pan

9. A very well-stocked first aid kit

10. A nice supply of toilet paper because, let’s face it, we have no idea how long we’re going to be stranded now, do we?

Do you think I’ve forgotten something vital? If so, what? What would you want to have with you if you were stranded on a desert Island?

An Interview with a Vampire

Tara: “Hi, everyone! I’m Tara Torolf. I’m a vampire slayer. Tianna had a vampire contact her and asked for an interview to prove they aren’t what everyone thinks. Can you imagine me rolling my eyes? Of course they’re everything they seem. I should know. Though… to be honest, most of them don’t kill their vict—er…donors.

Since Tianna couldn’t do this interview due to her deadlines fast approaching—one of them being my book she hasn’t even started yet, she asked me to interview this…this vampire. I know the answers to most of these questions already, but I'll ask them since it's what she wants. 

“Here with me today, is Gideon Molfetta. He is a Cartuotey here with me to set the record straight before he decides to end his existence. It’s a shame really, considering he is a very good looking man—vampire—whatever.

“Hello, Gideon. Tianna sends her regards and says thank you for joining me here today.

Gideon: “Hello, Tara. It is a pleasure as always.” *winks and tries for a sexy grin.*

Tara: “Don’t start that with me, Gideon. You know I’m a vampire slayer and Tianna’s transparent attempt at matchmaking is not going to work. Now for the questions.”

“Do you actually drink blood, or do you suck it up through your teeth like some sort of weird straw?”

Gideon: “We drink it, actually, though if we’re in dire need it goes up through our teeth and immediately into our bloodstream. *waggles his brows* “It’s a little anti climactic if you know what I mean.”

Tara :“Um… I imagine it is. Is it getting hot in here?”

“I know garlic keeps everyone away, but what about silver, crosses and holy water?”

Gideon: “Um… Silver is for werewolves. That whole thing about it hurting vampires is a myth. It does looks good on us though. As far as crosses and holy water, we are not the spawn of Satan. These things do nothing to us.”

Tara: “What about wooden stakes?”

Gideon: “I don’t think a wooden steak would taste delicious at all.” *laughs*

Tara “Is it like in the Twilight novels or do you actually turn to ash in the sunlight?”

Gideon: *Laughs* “The only thing sunlight does to us is make us tan.”

Tara “I thought that nice tan of yours was from a jar.”

Gideon: *sits back and rests his arms over the back of the chair. It really shows off the bulge in his pants that puts another question to mind* “Not on your life. It’s all me, sweetheart.

Tara “Is what they say about the vampire libido true?”

Gideon: *wink* “Where do you think all of the legends come from?”

Tara “That’s not an answer, Gideon. Come on, spill. True or not.”

Gideon: “Oh, it’s true, sweetling.”

Tara “Prove it!”

Gideon: “Is tonight good?”

Tara “I didn't mean with me! Why are you undressing here? Oh, my goodness! Are all Cartuotey built like that? Hoo! Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?  Okay, everyone. That’s it for today’s questions. I have a few more interviews to do so make sure you check back often to see who’s in the hot seat next! I have to run now. I have this huge thing on my to do list. See you next time.

Is it just me?

Is it just me or do things from our youth seem to be
disappearing? When I was younger, it seemed like there were city and community
parks everywhere. Children flocked to them to play kickball, baseball, etc. in
the spring summer and fall and we ice skated every day that we could get out of
the house in the winter.

Has technology had that much of a detrimental effect on
everything and everyone? With video games, the Wii, Xbox and Konnect, computer
games, internet, android phones and iPods, has everyone in the world forgotten
what it was like to go outside and feel the fresh air and sunshine on thier
face?

Admittedly, I spend a LOT of time on computers. I work with
them at the day job, for writing, blogging and social media sites. I probably
spend more time on them than I should. However, I do find the time to go
outside, whether it’s to garden, to ride my bike or play with my dogs.

I guess the question I’m trying to ask is, where are all of
the parks, the ice skating rinks and just plain fun places to hang out that
used to be the center of our lives when we were younger? Are they still there
hidden, trying valiantly to be noticed as we go on with our busy twenty-first
century, computer driven lives or are they gone forever, nothing more than dust
in the wind?

Until next time.

Tianna

Going Crazy at Home

Sitting here at home after my surgery has reminded me why I have a job. It's not just for the money. Well...let's be honest, it's mostly for the money. LOL It's also because sitting here at the house all day, every day is one of the hardest things I have had to do in a long time.

I love my family, don't get me wrong, but with my daughter here on disabliity with me, it's a constant battle to get any writing done. Between her inane prattle, video game noises and what she likes to watch on TV, I'm going CRAZY!

Take this blog for instance. I wanted to write it yesterday, did I? No. of course I didn't. I'm sure you're perfectly capable of checking the date. I'm writing it today, because the TV was on all day. When I left my 'recliner office', I went into the real office for some peace and quiet. What does she do? She follows me talking about her newest video game and how I should load it onto my laptop. Uh...no thank you. I'm not really into the same types of games. I do play them though, but they're retro games mostly. I love Tomb Raider because it makes you think and I can make Lara do that cool little handstand backbend thingy. Though sometimes it pisses me off if I sit and think about how I USED to be able to do that before... I glare at my kids.

Oh  well. I have another week before I go back to work. I see the doctor tomorrow to be certain. Let's hope he doesn't extend it, or if he does, I find something other to do than sit here and veg out because the kids are yammering at me non-stop.

By the way, my kids are adults in their mid-twenties. I DID listen when they were younger. Today, I just want them to entertain themselves. Read a book maybe. You would think they would have learned something from their avid reader\author mom wouldn't you? I may have the gift of gab, but I use my fingers to say it. A sort of sign language as it were...it's called writing.

Today I hope to start book 2 of the Hidden Breeds series. I sit here trying to write with the sounds of Bejeweled droning in the background and wonder if I will ever get that first paragraph written. Usually for me, that's the hardest part and the rest is cake. So, I sit here hoping for a few minutes of silence to come up with that awesome opening hook to get me started...

Sigh... I got nothing. Wish me luck!

Until next time.

Tianna

Thursday Thirteen

Hiya!

Here is another Thursday thirteen. I won't promise that I'll do this every Thursday, I usually have to work at the day job and I'll most likely forget. LOL

This time it's restaurants and pubs. These are the thirteen places where I love to hang out when I have the time.

1. Curragh's in Holland

2. McFadden's in Grand Rapids

3. Applebees in Kentwood or Greenville

4. Bennigan's in Big Rapids

5. Logan's in Walker

6. Perkin's in Kentwood

7. Smokey Bones in Kentwood

8. Red Robin in Kentwood

9. Bob Evan's in Kentwood

10. IHOP in Kentwood

11. Suki Hana in the Woodland Mall

12. McKenna's in Lakeview

13. Main Street Pizza in Lakeview