MIND of MRAIHI

Earning Online Money

2010-05-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

I have been writing forever and I though the best thing to do with my talent was find a way to make online money with it. Not only do I live overseas, but I do not speak the language here and finding a job was impossible. Then I spoke to my friends at Gather.com and realized there are a lot of places out there for people just like me. I have made many different amounts of cash for each article I wrote but you really have to be careful if you’re new to bidding for work. You want to be reasonable to be chosen, but selling yourself short can only lead you to poor paying jobs and people taking advantage of you. In the next few days I will be leaving a few tips on how to earn online money without being used for your talent in a bad way.

Writing is a joy, but we have to be realistic. Do not give your hard work away for free, your work is yours and to sell your copyright for a few simple dollars is not good. You earn no reputation and you will never get the recognition you deserve for your work.

my silly poems

2010-01-04T00:12:00.000-08:00

The jewel

I gather the shards

spread on the velvet matte

a jeweler of love

I open my palms to discover

it is your heart I hold there

Your touch and heaven too

With your kisses I see stars

with your touch I feel heaven

In your warm embrace

I feel eternity, and

the presence of grace

Wow I got Visitors!

2010-01-04T00:07:00.000-08:00

I was happily suprised to see I got some visitors on the blog, I always try to pretend I am only writing to myself. Let me explain why, if i pretend to be writing for my eyes only I am not disappointed to see there are no visitors. If I decide to write for visitors then I am sure to be disappointed..... So Wallah, I write to me!

Any how I have made some friends over in facebook, and they are all writers too. This is a good step in the right direction. I was offered to be published by a guy with an online magazine but then I never heard from him again, so that deflated my baloon a little, but hey I gave myself a full year to be published!

I have a couple more short stories I will post here, they seem to go over pretty well with the family, so those will be fun to share. I have to do a little research and see if i can find a good writing contest out there and try to make a little cash flow for myself this year. I will keep track of any monies i make writing and then share with everyone how I am doing. Other than that it is pretty slow, I really have to dig throught this darn book and get some editing done, the time flies and I have a long way to go before I submit it for printing at createspace to get my free copy!

To all of you writers out there, keep writing and don't let anyone or anything discourage you and hopefully I will have more news in the near future.

Not all wishes are fool proof !

2010-01-02T03:48:00.000-08:00

"Um, gimme that one." Geoff pointed to the dried up and wrinkled hotdog on the Shop-Rite weenie warmer. "Oh, are you sure?" the clerk asked as she wrinkled up her nose. "Yes" replied Geoff as he happily clapped his hands, and started to lick his lips.

"Want anything on it hun?" "No thanks, I like em plain" he replied.

Geoff paid the clerk for his dog then wandered outside. He crossed the street, just as excited to feed the ducks as he was to eat his hotdog. He pulled the dog out of the bun and set it on the bench. He tore up the bun and began to toss the pieces to the ducks.

"Hey Geoff!" came a shout from Jimmy from across the park. "Come look at what I found." Geoff grabbed his hotdog and took a quick bite 'yum, I just love these things.' he thought to himself. "What you got Jimmy?" Geoff asked as he offered his friend the remains of the hotdog.

Jimmy wiped his hands hastily on his pants and accepted the dog "It looks like gold" he said as he gobbled up the treat. "I bet it's real too." he said and handed the coin to Geoff. "I foound it over there." he said as he pointed at the sandbox. Geoff spit on the coin and wiped it "Nah, it aint real, look it says not redeemable as cash" The two boys took a closer look and Jimmy tossed it into the grass. "yeah your right I seen em at the pizza arcade." "I'm gonna keep it" said Geoff "We go there all the time" " Well thats cool then" replied Jimmy.

Geoff found the coin and stuffed it in his pocket and Jimmy went back to playing.

'I wish it was real.' Geoff thought to himself as he took a peek at the coin. "Wait, what's this" he said out loud as he read the opposit side of the coin. 'good for one wish' was engraved there.

"WOW" Geoff said out loud, I should show it to my mom and she can tell me something great to wish for.

Geoff sat at the bench allowing himself to daydream of all the wonderful things he could wish for, he saw Jimmy playing but thought he should keep this new found secret to himself.

After hearing his stomach growling he decided it was time to head for home 'I should have ate that whole hotdog' he thought to himself. He felt the warm coin still safe in his pocket and his heart began to dance with excitement.

As Geoff started for home he began humming, then he remebered a song from earlier he saw on T.V. and began to sing "Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weener"

****

The only thing found later that evening were Geoffs clothes and the old dried up hotdog he bought only hours earlier at the Shop-Rite store...

And so it Begins...

2010-01-01T02:14:00.000-08:00

Well here it is. A new year and a new blog post! I have to say that writing to me has become somewhat an obsession at the moment. I can not seem to find enough information, enough coaching, or enough time. I have to share with you a book I was recommended it called The Element of Style. If you thought your writing was in good shape, but you forgot some of the rules, this is a good book to read. Don't read once or twice but keep it as a reference, I did and i know it is going to help me a lot.

I'm not sure where to begin on my blog, in fact, I am new to the blogging. I wanted the site to become interactive but I think I have a long way to go before that happens.

The happiness I feel in writing I want others to feel when they read what I write and I think this blog may tun into a sort of journal for me. As I discover new ideas and books to read, or come up with some zany story, I think I will post it here and keep it as a record for me.

I would like it to turn into something bigger but I will be happy right here for the year and we will see what happens from this point on....

Welcome to my journey................

New Years Resolution

2009-12-28T00:28:00.000-08:00

This Christmas I gave myself a gift. The gift was publication of my book "Fitting In", I am new to writing and like I said I have a lot to learn and I am taking you on my journey this year.

To start things out, I have to do a lot of editing. This is a novel I wrote during National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo as it were. I wrote like a frantic child seeking out the last cookie from the cookie jar.

I have sentences that drag on. I have characters that have nothing to do with the plot. I have an MC that seems to be able to travel back in time. Only becuase the organization of the novel is a bit off once in a while.

At Createspace. com they gave each and evey winner a chance to get a free copy of their book and it has to be turned in by June 1st So I am going to be busy every day. I will edit, delete and add to whatever is needed in my precious baby so I can get that free copy for my bookshel too.

In the mean time I told you before, if you enjoy reading new authors and all kinds of different styles join me at gather.com you can earn points and some extra cash too, what better way to share your insight and comments.

The Journey begins...

2009-12-22T03:12:00.000-08:00

I know it's asking a lot for people to read a book from an author they don't know, I know it's even harder for a person to read an un-edited version of a WIP (work in progress).

I am shy to share and on the other hand I'm thinking what the heck! Nobody knows me so where's the harm in it. If I ever get a bad comment I should be happy I have any comment at all, thats what I figure!

I have this book sitting here and calling to me, I don't know where to begin, I won't even share my blog with my family because I don't want them to think I am off my rocker trying to do something like this. Sure they're familiar with my poems, in fact I send them to my mom all of the time. A book however? I just don't wan't to be critisized by the people who are closest to me.

I am struggling with this blog too, I don't know quite what to say or even how to begin at times, I post a bit of the story and run.... What a baby!

If my book ever gets anywhere beyond the recesses of my microprocessor and word program I will be suprised, but I have to take the first step and get something done before I go bananas and junk the whole thing!

EXCERPT Chapter 10....

2009-12-19T00:31:00.001-08:00

At about three we heard a knock on the door and went running to see who it was, to my surprise it was Jimmy and Mike, they were tired and out of breath.
“what are you guys doing?” She asked
“well Jimmy told me you guys were gonna be here together today so we thought we would come over and say hi.”
“well hi” she replied and the boys came in, we started listening to records and dancing in the living room, Jimmy fired up a cigarette and with his arm around my shoulder offered me a drag with the same hand, I sucked in the smoke and blew it out my nose, and he laughed,
“do you always smoke like that?”
“No I said but I inhaled it at least”
“no you didn’t anyone can do that” he said and showed me. ok he caught me but I stuck to my guns, we had the idea of calling my mom to come and get me later than four because Gretchen’s parents would not be home till late but she was already gone from the house.
“well then we better get busy” Jimmy said and I was horrified.

Gretchen and Mike went up to Gretchen’s room and closed the door leaving me alone with Jimmy, he grabbed me around the waist and started dancing with me to the song “you don’t bring me flowers” he was holding me close and blowing in my ear, I was petrified yet I did not pull away.

“your mom is coming soon“
“yeah I know” and we kept dancing, then when the song was almost finished he took my face into both of his hands caressed my lips with his thumbs and leaned in and gave me a kiss.

This was no ordinary kiss, this was a real live French kiss like more than what you see in the movies and I liked it, he held me strong and began to thrust his pelvis to mine I liked it and hated it, I was elated and in a panic, finally I gave in to my urges and kissed him back, we did not pay much attention to anything else around us and the kiss seemed to last forever, he would swirl his tongue around mine and suck on it a little, he would suck on my lips and again open his mouth and kiss me, I can’t remember what I did I can’t remember if I sucked his lips or anything, I remember he tried to give me a hickey but I was too darn ticklish and could not stand him kissing me on the neck, he tried to reach for my breasts but I was scared and pushed him away, he would kiss me more and do the same thing, finally I told him this was my first kiss and I was not ready for anything more than that, he agreed and told me it was ok but he sure loved the kiss so we kept up with it.

After a few minutes Gretchen came down and her boyfriend Mike gave Jimmy a thumbs up and I caught it as he was walking down the steps behind her, at that moment I knew they had sex and Gretchen had a big huge hickey to prove it.

“OH my God, you should see your neck!”
“what?” she replied and went running to the bathroom, she came out and yelled at Mike.
“You told me you didn’t leave a mark you liar” and was half laughing and half crying as she ran for the makeup and tried to cover it up, we were all laughing, we knew her ass was grass if her mom ever saw it, at that moment we heard a honk.
“Oh my God its my mom I gotta go! Hide you guys, hide, she would kill me if she knew you were here”

All four of us scurried up the steps and into her bedroom and another honk of the car, I grabbed my stuff and my bag and went running down the steps.

“sorry guys gotta go, call me later Gretchen” and I ran out the door.

My mom and I went shopping and I told her how much fun we had, roller-skating and eating pizza.

“she asked me to come next weekend too is it ok?”
“Sure, as long as its ok with her parents, its good for you to have more friends Kathie” I looked over and gave my mom a smile, she was the best mom ever.

Later that day after we got home I told Danny I kissed a boy, he could not believe it.

“Wow do you like him?”
“yeah and you know what else he is my boyfriend.” Danny was just sitting there with his mouth hanging open.
“you have a boyfriend?”
“yeah and so?”

He said he was just surprised that I had a boyfriend because I was more like a boy myself ever since we moved to this place.

“yeah but that’s because there is nothing else to do around here” I told him,
“what else am I gonna do? we can ride our bikes or go on our motorcycles what else is there?”
“yeah I guess your right” he said and we went upstairs to watch TV.

Every Saturday was the same, we would watch a television program and my folks would go to the neighbors house for drinks in the evening, it was ok because at least they were not too far away from us in case we got scared, right as my parents were leaving that night the phone rang, it was Gretchen.

“well you gonna come next week?”
“yes, my mom already said it was ok”
“good, I called Greg and he is meeting us at the roller rink“ now Greg I could handle but his creepy friend no way.
“Is Tom gonna be there?” I asked she told me Tom and him were friends but not that close and no he would not be there, but we were going to have to bring Greg home after the skate.

“Do we gotta stay for the dance?”
“well not if you don’t wanna ok, but I want to Kathie is that ok?”
“I guess, se ya Monday.” I said and hung up the phone.

My parents came back from their drink and were sitting in the living room talking it was about Ten and the phone rang again.
“ Ill get it” I yelled and snatched up the receiver,
“hello?”
“um is Kathie there?” the voice on the other end said,
“yes this is me” I said and I heard something muffled and Jimmy’s voice came on the line.
“hello, Kathie?”
“yes this is me” I repeated,
“um yeah this is Jim“
“Hi how are you?” I asked
“fine”
“why are you calling me so late?” I asked and just then my mom told me it was too late to be on the phone and whoever it was would have to call back.
“ oh Jimmy I gotta go that’s my mom, can you call me tomorrow?”
“ I will try” he said but his mom was not working on Sunday and he might not have a chance.
“Ok, but I gotta go ok”
“wait, I gotta tell you something ok?”
“hurry” I replied
“knock knock” he said,
“Whose there?” I replied,
“I”
“I who?” I asked
“I love you“ I felt my face go red, I wanted to say it back but I couldn’t.
“ok I gotta go”
“ok” he said and I hung up the phone.

“ who was that?” My mom asked,
“oh just Jodie she did not realize how late it was and she will call tomorrow“
“oh yes dear I forgot to tell you she called today”
“ ok mom thanks, well I’m tired and I’m gonna go to bed“,
“that is a good idea we have church in the morning” my mom replied, I gave her and my dad a kiss and went off to bed.

The next few weeks were more of the same, Gretchen and I were quickly becoming best friends I still talked to Jodie and she still claimed to be my best friend but it was clear to me that boys were more important and she was not having anything to do with my new friends.

Jimmy was always in and out of trouble being grounded all of the time for this and that, when his mom got wind that he had a girlfriend too he was grounded for like a month, every time I called his house I was told he was out, or could not come to the phone or too busy with yard work, there was never a time she let me talk to him so we made up a code, I would call his house when I could talk to him and let it ring one time, then he would call me back when the coast was clear and we would talk forever, I never did tell him I loved him in all that time but he did tell me over and over again.

When the last day of school came about we were all cleaning out our lockers, I was sad to see that day come, I had a boyfriend and friends here that I didn’t want to leave, they all lived in the same town , I was two towns away I knew that meant I would not see them much and that is exactly what happened.

Chapter 6 ............Fitting In

2009-12-12T03:19:00.000-08:00

Well I survived the sixth grade, yippee, next year I would be in Junior High, wow, I could not wait to meet more people, I was by no means popular with my new classmates and got no ones phone number to call during the summer, thank goodness I had Jodie and Tom and my little brother Danny I was going to make it a great summer and have lots of fun because my mom already warned me it was going to be time to buckle down in Junior high, no more playing around, I had to get my grades up and keep them up if I was going to amount to anything.

On the fourth of July we had a big huge church party at our house, the church was new and we were a family involved in starting this new church, it was in the city near our old house and it was started in a gym of one of the local elementary schools.

We still had only 15 families or so but I was very popular and had tons of friends there, many of the kids were my and Danny's age and we had so many visiting families it was fun being one of the older families of the church I felt comfortable there and in my clique of friends.

We had sleep over’s and went to big conferences together, by best from church was Shelly and her sister Diane we spent a lot of weekends together, I went to their house all of the time and her parents always sponsored for the big conferences we would have at a nearby town and we had about 5 girls stay at their house over the weekend, we would play games and watch movies and eat until we could not eat anymore.

The best part about having Shelly around was Shelly and her sister were going to school where I used to go so Shelly would keep me up to date on all of my old friends, who moved, who stayed, who had a crush on whom it was great fun and we would have a blast together, sometimes I would spend 3 or 4 nights at their house just hanging out and having fun, I was glad I still fit in somewhere.

With the end of our first summer drawing to a close and the days getting shorter it was still a little hard for me adjusting to our new life in our new house, I did have Danny and we spent a lot of our time swimming in the pool, for him though, he was doing much better than I was, all of his buddies kept him busy every day he was adjusting well to our new home and I was a little jealous.

We did have our good times but I did not get to see much of Jodie during the summer, there were some nights that I would sleep over at her house but her family kept her pretty busy.

Jodie had a big extended family her sisters had lots of kids so she was off a lot of the time having to baby-sit for them, as for me, well no way was I going to baby-sit, that meant I would have to be in a strange house at night alone in this crazy place, no way, I was much happier at home with my brother and his buddies or just playing alone and coloring or drawing, that was what I was getting good at, I would write short stories and poems and give them as gifts for birthdays and stuff for the family, I was really quite a lonely kid, not really having anyone to hang out with much.

I was determined to find new friends when I got into Junior high, all these kids would be thrown into a bigger pool too right along with me, so I thought it might finally get a little easier to make friends once school started.

Chapter 2........ "Fitting In"

2009-12-11T23:27:00.000-08:00

So finally, the actual first day of school came and we were ready, we went on a bus ride that seemed to last forever, the further we got the more nervous I became, it actually took an hour to get to school on the bus, it was a long ride, made even longer for me because I had no friend to sit next to, no girls to giggle with, I just sat by the window looking out and daydreaming, I got the occasional questions from Danny and Ken, or the boys pointing out something in the distance, but their school was at the half way point to my school so I had a 30 minute ride all alone.

When I got to the school I followed the crowd, I went and found my classroom, hesitation was taking over as I grabbed the door handle, I could feel the palms of my hands getting sweaty as I went to push the door open three girls just brushed right past me and went into the room so I followed the leader.

All of the kids just gathered in their little cliques laughing and talking about their vacations, as I walked in they all stared at me, whispers floated across the room and hit me like a brick to the face, I felt like some science project that had gone terribly wrong, I could not make out what was being said as they stared and followed every move I made, I checked my zipper, all was well, did I have a booger hanging? I rubbed my nose and it seemed to be clear of any green monsters, I looked down at my clothes, everything seemed to be in place, it was as if everyone seemed to be amazed at how I was able to stand upright.

I found a seat near the back of the room and close to the door, my teacher was Mr. Bentley, but the kids all called him Mr. Bucky. This man had the biggest two front teeth I have ever seen on a human being and they stuck out so far he could barely close his lips over them, when he smiled all you could see were these teeth and they were mesmerizing. He wore a pair of brown trimmed glasses that seemed almost too big for his face and made his eyes look three times bigger than normal, when he spoke he spoke with a thick southern accent.

The first day of class was quite typical, we went through the ritual of seating assignments and friends of course wanting to sit next to friends, kids with glasses wanted to be up front to see the blackboard, boys always wanting to sit in the back of the class, it was a typical argument every year on where your seat in the class was going to be, for me it really did not matter, I had no friends here and quite frankly it was easy for me to daydream and drift off into my own world while the other kids were busy chatting, passing notes and gossiping.

Then we went around the room, we had to tell the class our names and a little about ourselves, I put my head down on the desk, so nervous when it came to be my turn. All these kids knew each other and when it came to my turn, no one was impressed.

" Well umm My name is Kathie, I just moved here last month, I have a little brother whose name is Danny and my dad is a business man who works on selling stocks and bonds".

They all sat there staring at me as if I were some sort of alien. all of their dads were farmers and dairy owners, most of their parents owned apple orchards and farm markets were run in their own front yards, oh my gosh how was I ever going to fit in with this crowd? My family took vacations in the Bahamas and these kids spent their vacations spent on the family farm.

So then I get a great idea, I know how to make myself look like one of them, so I open my big fat trap and added what I thought was a great piece of information, for sure I would fit in if I shared it.

"Oh yeah and when my dad bought our house he bought eight acres too", hmmm no response? I wondered why and it did not take long for me to find out, the rest of the class started sharing how much acreage their parents had, 100 acres, 250 acres thousands of acres, well I was a bit embarrassed by the whole thing to say the least, how stupid could I be to mention the stupid acreage?

I thought it was a lot but of course it was clearly evident that I was just a very small guppy swimming around a tank full of great white shark. That was the first part of the day, however humiliating it was for me I was glad to know it was almost drawing to an end and I have survived.

Lunch time was another lonely time for me, you walk into the gym where they have these old folding tables they wheel in for lunch time, you stand in line and pay your 50 cents and they give you a big plastic tray, you walk through the line as the give you food, a casserole of some sort, a bread roll, a scoop of green beans a spoonful of fruit cocktail, a scoop of pudding and a milk, chocolate or white whichever you prefer, I chose the chocolate.

When I got through the line I stopped and looked for a place to sit, everyone was sitting with their friends and no one was exactly holding their arms out to greet me with a hug. I found a seat near the door and sat down, no one said hi and no one sat next to me, inside I was just dying inside, I had so many friends I had left behind, they don't smell like these kids, the odor of cow poop and unwashed clothes lingered in the air. My old friends were nice and friendly, we had nice clothes and great gossip sessions, what was I going to do in this school full of hillbillies?

On the inside I was crying but on the outside I pushed back the tears and tried to swallow what I could of my lunch, I threw the rest out and headed outdoors, during recess I found a swing and just sat there twisting my feet in the dirt and wishing I was back home, I watched the girls playing Chinese jump rope up by the doors to our building, I watched them for a while and inside just wishing they would ask me over to play. All of the boys were out in the field playing kickball, there were some kids on the jungle gym and two on the teeter-totter then back around to me, the only one sitting on a swing.

As I spanned over the playground once again another thing caught my eye, all of these kids were dressed alike, no new clothes for school, the basic wardrobe was jeans and t-shirts, boys wore big work boots and the girls just wore plain tennis shoes, I had on all of these nice new clothes and a pair of leather shoes my mom bought for me at the shoe store. This was another thing I would have to change so I did not stick out so much, I did not want to be different from everyone else, I just wanted to fit in.

The second half of the day seemed to take much longer to me but that was because Mr. Bentley was giving us homework, first math, we went through the first section of the first chapter then he gave us a paper to bring home and have done for the next day, then spelling, we got our word lists and also had to study for our test the following week, when it came time for social studies, we all had a paragraph to read and at the end of the section there were 10 questions that needed to be answered, he gave half of the class the odd numbers and the other half of the class would complete the even numbered questions and with that the day was over and thank goodness it was time to go home. I can't believe we had homework on the first day of school, we had a math paper, spelling words and social studies yuck, well I thought to myself, at least I made it through the day.

On the ride home I was happy to see my little brothers school, I saved him a place to sit by me and Ken sat across the aisle from us. His teacher sounded about as weird as mine did, his name was Mr. Jameson, he was an odd looking man Danny said, he wore glasses and was cross eyed and bald, yuck, I'm sure glad mine only had Buck teeth.

Danny told me he had all of the little girls sit in the front of the room around his desk and all of the boys had to sit behind them, I thought that was really weird but my mom just blew it off as a little boy with a big imagination.

Danny and Ken had the same class together, I had class with no one that I met in VBS so I was a little jealous. When my mom asked how my day was I just told her it was fine, I knew it would not change anything even if I hated it, so I just told her all was well and went to my room to do my homework.

After homework was finished my mom gave us both a snack, she made us these great home made snack size pizzas, you bought the flat bread, sauce, pepperoni and shredded cheese and you could microwave it, it was the best treat with a big glass of milk after school, we sat in the family room off the kitchen and watched “Happy Days” followed by “Laverne and Shirley” then headed out to play.

My year at my new school went on like this, I was usually on the outside of the crowd, these were kids that had been friends for a long time and here I was the ONLY new kid in school trying to make friends, I was very shy and had a hard time starting conversations, I was usually just standing back watching.

Fitting In ...............The final of chapter 1

2009-12-11T09:56:00.001-08:00

My stomach was twisted in knots and I felt the nausea sneaking it’s way in, I took a few deep breathes to calm myself and after lunch I asked Robins mom if she could please call my mom to come and pick us up because I was not feeling well. She did, and when Danny and I got into the car I told my mom about the milk and how they tried to poison us but she just laughed.

I was really starting to hate this place and I knew it was not going to get much easier any time soon, Danny told my mom the animals were really neat.

"Would you like to go and visit again?" she asked. he looked out the window watching the fields as we passed them by and shook his head "No mommy, I already saw them". Danny too, was not too impressed with the surroundings at our new friends home, even in the car on our way home I could smell what seemed to be cow poop emanating from my clothes, oh my gosh this was the worst play date ever and if I never got back to that place I swear it would be too soon.

Soon after our visit to Robin and Henry's house came the first day of school and we were ready, we had all of our school shopping done, my mom made me some new clothes and I was especially in love with my black and white top I chose to wear because she put little ruffled fake leather red sleeves on it, I wore it with a black turtle neck and a cute pair of saddle pants she bought me just one week earlier.

Danny had his new CHiPs lunch pail and I had my money for the hot lunch line. We were all set and ready to go, my mom walked us down to the end of the driveway where we were supposed to be catching the bus, and started snapping photos, it was Danny's first day of school so of course she had to take some pictures of us.

As we stood waiting for the bus, people were driving by honking and waving, we smiled and waved back, but after 30 minutes of waiting my mom brought us inside to see why the bus had not shown up, “Well” they said “the bus will be there on time but school does not begin until tomorrow“.

“Well how embarrassing” my mom said then she sat at the table and we all had a great laugh. Danny and I were so excited it was as if it were the first day of summer vacation, we ran in our rooms and changed our clothes, we were going to make this day the best day of our vacation, we went hiking down behind our house to the back of the property and pretended we were pioneers, we drank from the small stream that passed through the field at the edge of the woods and decided that would be the best place to put a fort, we imagined being on our own and living like “Grizzly Adams” and his big bear on the television show.

Mom gave us our lunches in a bag so it was like really living on the frontier, we sat at the edge of the stream and ate our lunches and laid back in the tall grass looking up as the clouds passed by, I looked over to Danny and told him it really was a pretty place to live but I really missed all my friends, he said “I think it’s nice here and I like it” I just rolled my eyes and we got up to leave, we found some pretty wild flowers and picked a few so we could give them to mom when we returned from our trip on the wild range.

"Fitting in" ... continued

2009-12-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

Ken and Danny hit it off great, they were the same age and in the same grade and his mom even got them to be in the same class at the old schoolhouse that was only one town up the road.

It was an old one room Schoolhouse, we were big fans of the show “Little House on the Prairie ” and it had the exact same look to it with its large wooden front steps and tall windows in the front, it was like we had not only moved out to the country but to a place lost in time. The school had been divided up into three classrooms for first, second and third graders and it was funny to see how excited my little brother was to call this his school.

The boys were great buddies, they spent all of their time together, my mom brought Danny over to Kens house for play dates all the time, but when it came to staying over-night he would have nothing of that.

My mom got many midnight phone calls to go and pick him up, and sometimes knocks on the door in the middle of the night because Danny wanted to come home, we were in a very different place, there were no sounds of traffic passing by and there were no streetlights shining in your bedroom window at night.

I knew exactly how he felt, there had been many nights I would wake up and it was storming outside, I would wander into Danny’s room and wake up in the bottom bunk wondering how I got there in the morning, I was always scared of thunderstorms.

I made some friends but no-one that really could be called my best friend. I really spent most of my time with my brother until one day he and I went to someone’s house after VBS one day.

Robin was nice and she had a younger brother named Henry who was about Danny's age, when we got to her house it was so shocking for me.

Their house was big, it was an old farmhouse, the paint was coming off of the exterior, the windows had remains of weathered plastic hanging on by one or two rusted staples stuck in the window frames. The other half of the fragments were spanned all around the yard and had been blown into bushes and stuck around the old trees out front.

The upper part of the house had a large window with what looked like some type of blanket being used as a curtain.

They had plenty of animals, chickens were running all around the enclosed coop pecking at what looked to be leftover food of some sort, half of them were running loose in the back yard, the chickens were being followed by their chicks, cackling and chirping.

There were goats too, oh my goodness, I thought to myself, they actually have real live goats! I had never seen a goat outside of the petting zoo, Robin had at least ten. The goats were inside a fenced area and were chewing on the bits of grass that were trying to spout through the mud.

They had horses, pigs and cows too. Wow, I thought, this was a real live farm and I hated it. The smells were disgusting, the mud was sticking all over my shoes, this place smelled so bad.

Robins dad came bursting through the kitchen door as my mom left for the afternoon, even had a bad smell, he was a very big man, he had a flannel shirt and an old pair of overalls on, the shirt looked like it was, at one time, green and yellow. He had a long-john shirt on underneath with the sleeves of the flannel rolled up to his elbows, He had a beard that was graying and not well groomed at all. His big belly was well pronounced and entered the room before he did. His shirt button across his middle had long since been ripped right out of its place, he greeted us with a big hearty hello and kicked off his big plastic boots, the kind that came up to your knees like the fishermen wore.

When Robin and Henry’s mom made us lunch we had Bologna sandwiches and potato chips with a glass of milk and cookies.

I sipped my milk and wanted to vomit! "What kind of milk is this? I think it’s rotten" I said as I held my glass up towards her mom with my hand over my mouth, Danny seeing my reaction took his cup to his nose and smelled his milk, he set it back on the table with a little scowl on his face and plugged his nose.

Robins mom giggled "Oh Kathie this is good for you, this is Goats milk" at that time she held up her glass as if to give a toast to all of us and finished off the milk.

Oh my God, I thought to myself, these people are weird, I held back the tears at the thought of even having to take another sip as she offered to pour me another glass, I told her thank you but I was already full and could not drink any more.

"Fitting In"

2009-12-05T03:13:00.000-08:00

This is the first page of fitting in my Nanowrimo novel, please feel free to comment on the things you would like to see different or the things that seem to be right on target :]

I knew, even at the tender age of twelve, I wanted to get as far away from this place as I could. I was living a great life, I had great friends, I went to a school that was within a few blocks of my house and just knew I wanted to be here forever.

In the summer of 1978 my life was just getting started, I was starting to like the boys and they were starting to like me too, my friends and I did a lot of things together, we went bowling, had slumber parties and even tried our hand at roller-skating a few times, these were life long friends and they were going to stay that way, or at least I thought.

When the fifth grade was over my parents informed me that we would be moving, they wanted out of the city and decided to move out towards the country and a better life for my younger brother Danny and I.

Danny was six and would be starting the first grade and my parents wanted to make sure he got his new start in school in our new house.

Wow I thought to myself, I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to my friends, what was I going to do? what about John? we did have a schoolyard crush but it went further than that for me, his parents were friends of my parents, we went to each others homes, not because our parents were friends first but because John and I were. What would happen? would he still like me? I was moving to the country, so far away, we would never see each other again I just knew it.

To get us kids acquainted with some new friends my mom Betty enrolled us into a vacation bible school. I liked it and made a few friends, I even had them over for pool parties but they all knew each other and hung out together and I was still the outsider at my own parties.

Sometimes I would sit at the side of the pool and just dangle my feet in, wishing I had never invited these people to my house, I had much more fun with Danny and quite frankly a lot more room to swim in MY pool.

Danny however made friends easy and already had a new best friend that lived right down the road. Ken’s mom was a social butterfly and came to our house with Ken one day to introduce herself and say hi to my mom.

OK So Now What?

2009-12-05T02:47:00.000-08:00

OK, so I have finished my novel for 2009, it was a grueling 30 days of unrelentless writing, I wrote trough the cold and flu but somehow I managed to get through, now the question I am left with is what do I do next? I have written a novel sure, it is more or less around 100 pages it is a coming to age novel and a lot of what happens to a young girl when she starts to get those feelings... My girl in my story is a chubby, not so pretty girl who just wants to have a boyfriend, she has decided that if a boy says he loves you it must be true.

Kathie (the girl) has searched high and low and has tried her best at getting the boys to befriend her and want to be with her, her best friend Jodie is a very pretty girl, a big flirt and all the boys like her, everything that Kathie wants Jodie has and finds easily.

On the road to becoming an adult Kathie meets up with kids who are not the best choice as friends but finds she fits in well, she has a boyfriend or two and in the 8th grade actually gets asked to dance by John, he is a very nice boy, one she has never met before, she dances with him and is very happy to see that there are boys out there that enjoy her company, only one thing, after the dance she can't seem to find the boy.

We fast forward to highschool, through the awkwardness of being a teenager, she has, again, her fair share of bofriends, or does she? she meets back up with someone from her past.... Who could it be? we follow Kathie from the sixth grade and through graduation has she found that one thing she has searched so hard for? I don't know but lets find out....

That is my novel in a nutshell now I have to work on it and get it into some type of readable stage I will post it here a few pages at a time and welcome any comments, It is my first and I am in no way claiming to know even the first thing about writing but it will be fun to hear some comments from you guys, the ones who will actually be reading my books, tell me what you think, tell me if it runs too long or too short, if I miss details or if I have too many, let me know and I will fix what I can to make it a great book.

A Great Place to Be

2009-12-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

If your a new writer or an old expert, have I got a place for you, I joined a great social networking site for writers Gather.com they have anything and everything your looking for, great groups that offer prompts and writing exercises and it has attracted some great readers who love to comment on the things you write.

I enjoy the group for the social aspect and have grown since joining as a writer, it is informal and you do not feel the pressures as you would on some of the other sites as a newbie.

I get down and write to prompts and there is a little bonus, you post and earn points, traded in for cash or gift cards, its the place to be if you enjoy the social aspect of it and like to earn something along the way.

There is a great bunch there that tend to issues and there is a little bit of something for everyone, so if you in the neighborhood, check it out Gather.com what a great place to grow as a writer.

This is a Real Pain in the A$$

2009-12-01T00:08:00.000-08:00

You know writing is one of those things, you know you have a great story but somehow you have to get that awesome picture in your mind translated to a piece of paper.

I don't know about you but this is a real pain in the A$$, I can sit and daydream until the cows come home but that is not going to get my readers to pick up a book! I have to find a way to entice and get you to want to read my story.

I like to think that I have the power to do it but let me tell you, when I read the back of the book cover, it better grab me 100% or I am not going to bother picking it up.

The thing I have to do now is work on my little synopsis I posted and do some research on-line on how to best write a synopsis and see if I am on track.

I want it to pull my reader in and want to buy the book so I have to make sure all of the keywords are there and that I follow the rules while writing it (GOSH DARN) I really hate rules, all my life I had hated them and now I am doing this, writing is full of rules but I am going to try my best to break them all!!!

I love devils and demons, I want to write a book that literally makes you scream! now that is what a real pain in the A$$ is, how often is it you sit in your chair and actually scream out from reading? Me well ummmm NEVER! so lets see what happens, maybe I can at least get your heart racing and a chill up your spine, I would be happy with that :)

Synopsis of my Short story (no name yet)

2009-11-30T08:41:00.000-08:00

They fly to the lower 48 every year around the holidays and this year was no different, but when the Miller's returned to their cabin in Kenai, something was different, the spring cleared up the grounds quite well, but whose grounds were they now? there were automibiles that were not familiar, smoke coming from the chimney, patio furniture, their patio furniture, strewn about the yard haphazzardly.

Georgina stuck her key into the keyhole and slowly opened the door, she could see someone wandering about her kitchen, she set her bags inside the door and slowly walked toward the kitchen as Jack was outdoors trying to clear up the yard and put some order to the chaos over the front lawn.

A young woman popped up with a hot sheetcake she had removed from the oven she turned and was startled, "Um may I help you she asked as she set the pan to cool and wiped her hands on her apron." "The question is can i help you?" Georgina replied with annoyance clear in her voice, The young woman with a perplexed look on her face said, "well sweety you are inside my home, and uninvited I might add."

"Uninvited into your home?" Georgina replied, "who the hell are YOU and why are you in MY HOUSE?" The woman walked up to Georgina and offered her a seat, "dear I have lived here since my husband built this house, we have been here for ten years and as a matter of fact have never left, so I think maybe you might need to see someone, you seem a bit confused."

Georgina sat in the chair with an uncomfortable feeling coming over her,she recognized that dress and those oven mitts, "What is your name?" she asked with a tremble in her voice "Why, Georgina Miller is my name and yours dear?"

This is the synopsis of a short story I am working on, I would like some critique

Life is a Bowl of Cherries

2009-11-30T01:13:00.000-08:00

If life is a bowl of Cherries

But your feeling in the pits,

Just think of how the Cherries feel

When you go to take a Shit!

Becoming a Published Author

2009-11-30T00:54:00.000-08:00

I have read about and have seen first hand all of the challenges for new writers to become published, here I will share my poems and short stories and the tools I use to try to complete a totally readable and enjoyable book by the end of 2010. I will take you along on my journey into the world of writing, I will share with you my prompts, exercises and the outline choices I find from all of my online sources, as an Author I am of course broke but rich with ideas, we are going to search and scour the web and find all the great deals and go from there, we will write until we can't write no more! it will be fun, difficult, challenging and rewarding so sit back and let us begin our journey together, it's going to be a hell of a ride!