Character Quickie: Brett Silverfeather

20 quickie facts about: Brett Silverfeather

Birthday? - October 4, Libra, I’m balanced.
Favorite color? - Green, like nature.
Nickname? - Chief, it’s a NA thing.
Birthmark or scars? - Bullet scar on the shoulder. A wedding present.
Siblings? - 1 brother, 2 sisters, all younger and pains in the butt.
City of residence? - Three Trees, Georgia, since birth.
If you were a jelly bean flavor, what flavor would you be? - Cinnamon.
Occupation? - Sheriff
Hobbies? - Camping, horseback riding, reading, and mattress dancing.
Favorite song? – The South Is Going To Do It Again by Charlie Daniels Band
Name one item in your refrigerator right now? – Frozen dinners. Ginny cheats.
Your greatest fear? – That Ginny many come to her senses someday and leave me.
Most treasured possession? – A bone handled war knife with a beaded sheath.
Special talent? - *grinning* ask Ginny.
Cat or dog? – Dog/bear combo.
Pet peeve? – People who bully and abuse the weak.
Unforgettable moment? – My first sight of Ginny. She looked like a swamp rat.
Spicy or not? – very, very spicy in all things.
Favorite guilty pleasure? – sneaking a Pizza when Ginny isn’t around.
If you could ask your author one question, what would it be? – Why a powder blue VW bug? It’s downright embarrassing.

Brett Silverfeather is the hero in Sandra Dailey's new release, THE CHIEF'S PROPOSAL, available now from Amazon.


To learn more about Sandra Dailey and her writing please visit her BLOG.

Weekly Dose of Inspiration

Here's my inspiration for the week. Once the deadline for the current WIP is complete and submitted, I get to go back to Texas. 

Bye, y'all! Amie

Too Many Ideas

Is that even possible? To have too many ideas? It is for me. Some of you may know that I write under two names. That's two muses to deal with, two sets of ideas, two Facebook, Twitter, blogs and websites to keep up with. It just goes on and on. But the worst part...or is it the best part...is I have too many ideas.

Sarah can attest/accuse/confirm that I am constantly emailing her with a "plan". But I'll be the first to say that my plans are sometimes not the best laid. But there is never a shortage of ideas. That was fine before I was published. I could start a story develop another, write a little on one, develop another, enter a contest and start all over again. But now it's different. I have to rein in Shirley, make her stay focused (and I'll tell you, she is worse ADD than I ever thought about being).

My only solution is to keep a running file for new ideas --for both of my genres. I let the idea flow when it comes, then get right back on task with the story I'm supposed to be working on. What about you? Too many ideas? Or two few? How do you handle it?

Down the Drain

I heard on the radio last Friday that this past weekend is the weekend when most New Year's Resolutions go down the drain. Mine died a quick and merciless death on January 2. Why? Deadlines. When I am under a tight deadline, everything else goes out the window. I realized on Saturday that I had been wearing the same clothes (yes, even to bed) for the last four days. (I'm not proud, I'm confessing.)

So why do I do this to myself? I make these plans to lose weight, get up every morning and make sure I have on mascara (whether I leave the house or not). And  bra? Fuggetabutit! On the flip side, why do I wait so long in getting my butt in a chair and pounding out the story that was so vibrant in my head just a few short months ago?
It 's not that I don't want to lose weight, get in shape, start Weight Watchers, clean through the house, start getting ready for a springtime garage sale, and get organized. (Sucks in a deep breath). I do. I even promised myself that I would do more for myself--monthly pedicures and manicures. And so far nada, except 60K on the current WIP.

But to those of you out there, there's still time. Each day is a day to start over. Each week, we can begin again. And to any of you out there working on a deadline, there's always February!
So tell me? Where are those New Year's resolutions? Safe and sound or Down the Drain?

Hats

Am I the only one who feels like they’re being pulled in a million different directions? I can’t be, can I?

Sometimes I get so caught up in all of the different roles I play, all of the different hats I wear, that I lose sight of myself. Of the things that I need in order to meet my goals and stay true to ‘me’.

How many hats do I wear? Let’s see…

Wife
Mother
Sister
Daughter
Bookkeeper (let me add this one is for 6 different companies)
Tax Preparer (ok, so it’s only at year end, but hey, it’s on my mind right now)
Dog Groomer
Cook
Parts Gopher
Maid
Taxi Driver
Writer
Friend

There’s probably more, but you get the idea. Just looking at that list makes me think of the old saying ‘Make time to stop and smell the roses.’ I’d love to, really I would. But sometimes, there are too many hats to fit on my head at once. And the one that most often falls off? Unfortunately that would be ‘Writer’. *sigh*

If your list looks like mine, and it most likely does, how to you balance them all? How do you find the time to stay true to yourself? I’d love to know.

Sarah Grimm
where dangerously sexy & happily-ever-after collide 
Blog / Website

Monday Musings

An author friend and I were talking over the weekend about family, friends, and taking care of ourselves. During the course of the conversation she said something that reminded me of this poem - one I thought I would share with you today.


The holiest of all holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart,
When the full river of feeling overflows;---
The happy days unclouded to their close;
The sudden joys that out of darkness start
As flames from ashes; swift desires that dart
Like swallows singing down each wind that blows!
White as the gleam of a receding sail,
White as a cloud that floats and fades in air,
White as the whitest lily on a stream,
These tender memories are;--a Fairy Tale
Of some enchanted land we know not where,
But lovely as a landscape in a dream.

~  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Happy New Year! Hope this inspires you to put down the dust cloth (at least for today) and grab a drink, a Wii remote, or your favorite dance partner and have a little fin this afternoon!

New Year's Resolutions for Writers

Welcome to 2013. With a new year, most of us set our resolutions to lose weight or quite smoking. So popular is this custom that I found a list on the internet of the most popular resolutions that we make this time of year.

 1.       Stop Smoking 
2.      Get into a Habit of being Fit
3.      Lose Weight
4.      Enjoy Life More.
5.       Quit Drinking
6.      Organize yourself
7.       Learn Something New
8.      Get out of Debt
9.      Spend More Time With Family
10.   Help People.

All very good resolutions, but I fell that as authors we should have another set...just for writers. Here's my list:
1.       Stop procrastinating
2.      Get into the habit of being fit—take at least two online or in person classes
3.      Lose weight—by editing. Hone your editing skills and lose the extra words. I know this is easier said than done, but your writing will thank you for it.
4.      Enjoy life more—A writer never stops writing and inspirations are all around us. Keep a notebook in your car and/or purse. Use it  to jot down any ideas you have on the go, then get back to what you are supposed to be doing—grocery shopping, banking, or cheering on the little league baseball team. Also use your phones camera to take a  picture of the item of inspiration. Email it to yourself with just a few words about how the item made you feel to help you recapture the feeling you had later so you can get back to your life in that moment.
5.       Quit Drinking: Hemmingway said “write drunk, edit sober.”  I’m leaving this one up to you.
6.      Organize yourself: files, desk, notes. Clean your desk (or writing area) and move all reference books to the most convenient places. Also, clean through and organize or delete old files and pictures off your computer.
7.       Learn something new: try to write something in a new  genre—just a paragraph or two (not a story) to stretch your writing skills
8.      Get out of Debt: strive to make more money than you spend on your writing. Look for more free opportunities to promote yourself. (Like Off the Keyboard <g>)
9.      Spend more time with Family: set aside time for writing and time for family and stick to it. Of course there will be time when this won’t be possible. But having a plan in place will help keep your time sane and organized…for the most part.
10.   Help people: take this year to judge a contest. There are so many writers out there honing their craft and trying to write the best book possible. Help them by giving a little of yourself and judging a contest. I don’t know where I would be with my writing without the contests that I have entered in the past. Yes, I know it’s a lot of work, but it is so worth the effort. And very good for our “writer karma”.
Feel free to print it out, tweak it to suit your needs and place it somewhere you can view it  often.

Happy New Year!!

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Happy New Year!

Welcome 2013!