Be Still My Geeky Star Wars Heart!

Behold! A Death Star jack-o-lantern!

pic from fantasypumpkins.com

A Death Star jack-o-lantern! Nothing says Happy Halloween like this. Except maybe THIS!

pic from geek.com

My Urchins are deluded in thinking that I can pull off a carving like one of these. But it doesn't keep them from begging incessantly for it.

Happy Halloween, citizens!

Motorcycle Decisions Decisions

As many of you know, I ride a motorcycle. Some of my newer followers may not know that I took a spill on it in the beginning of May and have not been back on it since.

Now I'm wondering if I should sell it.

As of now, it's out of inspection, and illegal to ride. I'm not sure I have the courage to get back on anyway.

There's my precious.

close up of the sticker.

Here's a look at my pretty. I need to take an afternoon and try it out again before I make a decision to sell it. But I'm thinking more and more of my girls as the counter argument to sell. (They don't know I had an accident, I'm just thinking I might be a little selfish to keep riding.) We'll see.

So do you indulge in any guilty pleasures? Any that could possibly get you killed? Inquiring mind (me) wants to know!

Where Have I Been?!?!

I'll tell you. New Jersey.

Where am I going?

Crazy.

Yes, I was at the NJRW's conference over the weekend. It was fantastic. I highly recommend it to all writers. There were workshops on craft, the business, legal aspects, etc. I met some wonderful writers. Refilled the creativity and enthusiasm well. Just . . . awesomeness.

And I pitched A Shot At Forever. Which yielded  two partial requests from Sourcebooks and Harlequin.

So that's where I've been. I went and had a blast, then returned home and put the nose to the grinder monkey grindstone and have been working on my submission packets ever since. (polishing up my query letter, working on my business plan, you know, the usual.)

On a different note, Ashley Nixon, super nice person extraordinaire, bestowed me with the Sunshine award. And I've been meaning to blog about it ever since.

Here are the questions:

Fave color: Today it's yellow.
Fave animal: otters
Fave number: 14
Fave non-alcoholic drink: diet Pepsi with Wild Cherry
Fave alcoholic drink: A mango mojito or a Dogfish Head Festina Peche
Facebook or Twitter: Just joined Twitter ( @AvaQuinnWrites ), but haven't gotten around to joining Facebook.
Passions: Writing & Education
Prefer giving or getting presents? Giving.
Fave city? Can't think of a city, but my favorite town is Bar Harbor, ME
Fave TV Shows: Castle, Big Bang Theory and Longmire.

I'm going to officially award this to another writer blogger I'd love for you to get to know-

Delynn Royer 

So there's a little peek inside. What would your answers be? Did you do anything special this past weekend?

Why Didn't I Get A Flu Shot Yet?!?

It's too late for this round. I'm finally coming out of it, slowly but surely, though this fever will not go away.  I need to schedule flu shots for me an the Urchins. I'm not looking forward to it. Not that I care about a shot. No, it's the Youngest Urchin. She holds a grudge for days after getting any shots. She's a sweetie, but stick her with a needle, and all bets are off.

I also have to get ready for the NJRW conference coming up. I've done almost all my shopping to get ready, now I need to pack, finalize directions and memorize my pitch. Wanna read it? It's still a little choppy, so I'm trying to smooth the rough edges a bit. But here it is.

A Shot At Forever

Sheridan Ward hustles pool for a living. She’s made it this far by following three rules. Know the game better than your competition. Know your marks better than they know themselves. And trust no one. Especially the law. But Sheridan wants out. She’s found a way in a high stakes underground pool tournament. One last big score and she’ll have enough money to start the life she really wants. She only has three thousand dollars left to earn for the tournament’s buy-in. But less than a month to make it. Everything is working to plan until her latest hustle in a small Texas town turns ugly.

Sheriff Ethan Bankert has spent every spare second investigating the murder of his father, but the trail has grown cold, until he stops an assault on a beautiful loner that leaves her with an injured wrist and no transportation. He immediately places Sheridan under his protection. Ethan knows she’s the key to re-opening an investigation into the men he believes killed his father since they’re the same ones who assaulted her. If only she’d press charges. Yet the more time he spends trying to convince her, the more Sheridan reawakens feelings he hasn’t felt since before his father was murdered. And some he’s never felt before.

It’d be a cold day in hell before Sheridan steps back into a courtroom, no matter how tempting the sheriff is. She may be stuck in his town waiting for her truck to be fixed, but she’s anxious to get to the tournament. It’s her best shot at starting the life she’s dreamed of . . . except now those dreams have begun to include Ethan. But in the shadows of the small Texas town, a killer from Ethan’s past is determined never to let Sheridan have her SHOT AT FOREVER.

Have you ever pitched in person to an agent or editor? (I'm hoping I got all my puking out over the weekend with the flu. That way I don't puke on them while I pitch.) Do you recommend any writing conferences or workshops? Anyone else going to NJ for this one?

Urchin Star Wars Viewing Update

When last we left the Urchins, they were still firmly entrenched in the enraptured bliss of watching the original Star Wars IV.  (Click to view crazy back story that will explain some of the jokes to follow.)

Last night, The Man went to his part time job (yes, he has a full time job too.) So I asked the girls what they'd like to do. A resounding vote for Star Wars from each of them still has my ears ringing today. I was totally down with that, since as has been established previously here at Tongue in Cheek, I'm a total geek girl and am raising two as well.

So last night we did it up right. Popcorn was popped. The Oldest Urchin brought down her build a bear that plays the Star Wars Theme when you press its foot. (Like mother like daughter- I still have the Star Wars soundtrack on vinyl.) And snoogled up on the couch for some classic Star Wars viewage.

The Oldest Urchin is now beginning to appreciate the humor of Han Solo. In her first viewings, she was righteously indignant on Luke and Leia's behalf at any remarks he made towards them.

The Youngest Urchin, who's now six, is no longer asking what Chewbacca and R2D2 are saying. No. now she's telling me what she thinks they're saying.  Throughout the entire movie.  Yet one thing hasn't changed. When I tell her she's incorrect and what R2D2's really saying is,"Tell the Youngest Urchin to stop talking during my movie." She still makes some very Chewbacca-like noises at me.

So what's your favorite part of Star Wars? Which is your favorite character? And twenty thousand imaginary bonus points to you if you have the Star Wars soundtrack on record or 8 track. You may redeem them in my imaginary shop, Pitchforks 'n Things a.k.a. The Angry Villager.

Don't Let It

(This post is dedicated to my friend, Deb, who is diagnosed with ALS.)

Debilitating losses.

Terminal diseases.

They can take so much from a person. Energy.  Mobility.  Limbs.  Memories. Cruel and greedy, they strip so many things away without recourse.

Yet there is one thing they can never take.

The human spirit.  That joie de vivre that makes up who we are. That indomitable well spring of a life worth living.

Unless we let it.

Don't. Don't let it make you give up living your life to the fullest that you can before it's your time. Don't let it crush your spirit and make you a shell. Don't let it snatch away those precious months, days. Minutes.

Don't!




Thank you Valerie Harper for illustrating this so beautifully and showing us all what a life worth living looks like.