On: Life in the Baby Making Lane

Things are a lot different this time around than they were when I was carrying the Munchkin. I don't have half as much time to lounge around and do nothing. I haven't decided if this is a blessing or a curse. Most likely it is both.

I'm starting to make lists for the Belly Munchkin's arrival. Whether I'll actually ever manage to check anything off those lists is yet to be seen. I have however, been able to squeeze some time in for weekly yoga. Not as much as I managed before I started carrying around an additional person, but at least it is still something. I've also recently started attending an prenatal aqua-fitness class designed specifically for my friend and I by the director and assistant director of the pool I worked at pre-pregnancy.

It's been nice getting back into the water, even if that meant finding a swimsuit to fit around my expanding middle. I guess, out here in the middle of the desert, near a military base where the number one past time seems to be procreating, they don't actually find it necessary to offer maternity anything. I guess they just expect those women who often times jump from pregnancy to pregnancy to walk around naked while they're gestating.

That's a thought for another day, I'm sure.

I've got the goal of producing two books this year, and I haven't really started working on anything at all, because I seem to only have the ability to power one brain at a time, and since growing a brain is very important, my thoughts have been jumbled and not wholly useful in the world of my writing career. I've been tossing around ideas, and some how I know everything will find a way of working out.

I would love to hear what is going on in my dear readers' lives.

R.S.

On Books You Should Read

My friend, K.K. Sierra, pointed me to this article this morning while I was trying to figure out exactly WHAT I was going to blog about. The only things happening in my world consist of huge amounts of homework, and intense writing sessions where I try to continually make my writing goals (while not going crazy). November is a stressful month.

Anyway, after reading the article, I decided it was important for me to post my own version of it.

1. Because I've read only about six of the works on here, and I did in fact graduate from high school with no ill effects.

2. Because I'll be the first to tell you, I'm not a fan of the 'Classics'
   2b. Except I did enjoy the original Robin Hood, the Count of Monte Cristo, and Little Women

3. As K.K. and I discussed, I see very little reason a teen needs to read the 25 books listed, because really they have little to do with the way the world is now. There is probably a reason why very few high schools are requiring those books to be read anymore.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a huge, huge, huge-- did I mention HUGE advocate for reading. I've had an intense love affair with the written word since I was four years old and successfully read the I Can Read book, Frog and Toad Together.

I'm also a HUGE advocate for reading what you want as long as there are words in it (though I must include here that I still have a major issue with Comic Books and Graphic Novels because the word count tends to be less than most short stories--but that's just me).

Here is my list of 'must read' books that you'll probably never find on the 'Classics' list or in a school.




Any of the original 'Fairy Tales' by the Brothers Grimm

One For the Money by Janet Evanovich

Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Series (all Four Books) by Ann Brashares

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo

L.A. Requim by Robert Crais

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max (For a lesson in what NOT to do to be a productive member of society--and to laugh.)

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

The Root Cellar by Janet Lunn

Mirror Image by Danielle Steel

In Her Shoes by Jennier Weiner

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

The Client by John Grisham

The Warrior Ethos by Steven Pressfield

Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox: Dispatches from Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

Hot Ice by Nora Roberts

Hot Rocks by Nora Roberts

While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky



What are some must reads on your list? I'd love to know. I'm always looking for more novels to read. I've read some other great novels as well, but if I listed everything I've read this post would never get out. :)


And if you're interested, the blog K.K. Sierra wrote about this topic can be found here.



R.S.

On the Twitterlution

Tweet! Tweet!

Awww, now isn't that cute??

For those of you who don't recognize the happy blue bird holding the 'follow me!' sign, he's the cartoonized mascot of the ever growing, ever popular, and to me at least, ever confusing Twitter.com-- or Twitter as those in 'the know' call it.

I've been trying to get a handle on all the facets of Social Media, and I'm pretty sure each of them will end up with their own WTH?! blog post.

Today's is obviously Twitter, and its status updates known universally as 'Tweets'. Now as I stated in my self-promotion post, I'm trying to get my name, and thereby my work, out 'there'. Apparently the only way to do that is by becoming not only a member of Twitter, but actually becoming a actively productive member of the 'Twitterverse'.

I get that it's similar to blogging, and to the status updates on Facebook (more on FB in a later post), but seriously, don't I spend enough time talking to myself without having to add another site and/or app on my phone?

On top of that, I currently have a whopping 10 followers, and some of those I think set it up to automatically follow me when I followed them. At least, I think that's the case. I don't really know, and I haven't actually found a helpful site to answer my questions.

Questions like: How do I get more followers, and Why doesn't anyone respond to my 'tweets'?

Of course, if I have followers I'll have to actually tweet, and that is one more responsibility heaped onto my already towering plate o' responsibilities.

Gotta love being an adult.

If anyone has any suggestions for how to go about finding my 'twitter groove' in this new and confusing world where everyone is a member of twitter including my OBGYN, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Maybe it isn't too late to get involved in the  'Twitterlution'.

Now, Go 'Follow me!'!

R.S.

On Learning the Art of Self-Promotion

I remember the first time I had to stand in front of a room full of my peers. It was kindergarten, and it was show-in-tell.

It sucked.

Embarrassment flamed through my body like it should have been a vintage race car a la Grease, and we were racing for pink slips.

I hate being in front of people, explaining something, talking about myself, or in other words, pretending to seem intelligent and interesting.

Most of the time I don't feel like I'm any of those things, and I especially never felt that way as a kid.

Now, I'm an adult, a mother, a wife, a photographer, and an author of two separate novels. One YA and one contemporary.

And I have to promote myself.

That means I have to put myself out there, stand up in front of the proverbial class and explain something, share something, and this time it's even more important and embarrassing than it was the first time all those years ago. Now it's done not just in person, but across dozens of different Social Network platforms. It's done via blog, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Email, LinkedIn, and others I can't even remember.

I'm not just sharing something I was given or bought. I'm sharing a part of myself. Hours of worry, sleepless nights, late dinners, and sweat. A part of my soul, my heart, my hopes and dreams, all combined into something a person could say, 'Eh, not interested. Not good enough."

 It's a terrifying prospect.

But, I have to do it, and do it well.

I don't want to push myself on people who won't be interested or will be turned off by the salesman's approach, but I don't want to be so lax nobody will take me seriously. There is such a fine line, and I'm not sure where it even begins, but I know I'll find it.

When I do, I'm going to rock that line like an Earthquake.

So where do I begin?

Any ideas? I'm open to suggestions.


R.S.