Category: Blogfest/Bloghops

My Weekly Update – November is going to be ________!

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle12 Comments
Between Friends by Sandra Bell-Lundy

I will leave the end of this sentence blank in order to fill in the spectrum of adjectives that I will be using to describe the month of November.  I can foresee this month being amazing, creative, genius and frustrating, demanding and down right awful all at the same time.  But, isn’t that what makes life fun.

Hear is my month by the numbers:

      • 50,000 words to write for NaNoWriMo
      • 16 chapters to critique for my awesome CP’s
      • 8 chapters to edit for my awesome CP’s
      • 15 blog post to clean up and finalize – they have already been written 🙂
      • 2 Next Big Thing posts that I can’t put off any longer – Thanks Karen & Amanda
      • 1 Cool Writing Exercise Challenge – Thanks again, Karen
      • 2 NaNoWriMo Interviews – these are easy, I love talking about myself
      • 1 Guest post for Mischa at My First Book
      • 5 day business trip to conduct a 3 day golf show with 100,000 people
      • 2 day fun trip to Xi’an China – I am going to see 8,000 Terracotta Army Soldiers
      • 6 boxes to pack and ship to America from China – not as easy as it sounds

 Last Minute NaNoWriMo post – these are really different, so check them out.

 

Editing post – I am going to empty out my cache of editing post for you to enjoy and so I can stop thinking about this for November.  I still have some editing duties in November, but when I am writing I need to stay out of editing mode.   

 
New Followers
Audrey at A Place to Fall
Rita at New Partnership – The Wordy Photographer
Stacy Farr
Kirsten at A Scenic Route
Diamond Mike Watson
Terry Scott
Rebecca May
 
Next Week’s Schedule
Monday – Monstrous Monday
Tuesday – Prophecy of the Most Beautiful Blog Tour – Diantha Jones
Wednesday – OMAR Blog Tour – Craig Thompson
Thursday – 1st day of NaNoWriMo – See my Daily NaNoWriMo Updates here
Friday – The Grimoire Trilogy Blog Tour – S.M. Boyce
Sunday – My Weekly Update
 
 *Thank goodness for the scheduling feature on WordPress.  

Spooktobertfest – Where Have You Been?

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle26 Comments

Jackie and Dani have prompted me to write a 300 word Flash Fiction piece using the following words:  cobweb(s), cauldron(s),  jack-o-lantern(s), ghost(s), razor(s).  The story can be scary, comical, romantic, whatever I choose. Just be creative!  They will pick a winner on October 31, 2012.

Where Have You Been?

I grabbed the knob and pushed the door open.  Now, that is odd, the door was unlocked.  A cold breeze smacks me in the face as I push open the door.
“No way should it be this cold with the fire going.” I said out loud to no one, but just as I suspected, the fire wasn’t lit.
The room was dark except for a small candle whose light was struggling to shine beyond the jagged smile carved into a jack-o-lantern.
I walked into the corner and looked into the cauldron.  As, I reached out my hand, I could faintly sense the warmth, but it was clear, the fire had been out for a while. 
A brave spider had already begun to form a cobweb from the top of the pot to points unknown.    
A glint of light, bounced off an object lying on the floor.  I reached down to pick it up.  “Ouch.” Now who would leave a razor on the floor? The razor goes into the pot. 
I tasted the creamy sweet blood oozing out of my finger.  “Good year.” I laugh at my own joke.  But, then stop.  My own laugh echoing off the walls even made my skin crawl.   Something is clearly wrong. 
A draft from an unknown direction swiftly moved through the room and extinguished the small candle.
And, then it made perfect sense.
“Harry, where have you been?”
Never hire a ghost to be your night watchman.  They are notoriously unreliable, especially at night.    

Ok, so there you have it. My little story in 300 words or less.  I don’t know why, but it makes me laugh every time I read it.  I hope you enjoy it, too. And, click on the badge to visit and enjoy other Spooktober Fest stories.  

 

Did I Notice Your Book? – That Time of the Month by Emily Shaffer

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle23 Comments

Ciara Knight & the Ninja Captain Alex are hosting another community building blogfest.  They have given me the opportunity to tell you about a book I noticed a couple of weeks ago.  And, the only way I can really tell you how much I enjoyed this book is by describing what happen to me when I read it.

The book I noticed is That Time of the Month by Emily Shaffer.

Scene #1 – I am trying out a new restaurant near my house.  I entered the place and there were about 20 people in a room that really should have only sat about 10 people.  And, I order and take out my iPad to read.  I ended up with a headache trying to stifle myself from laughing out loud.  If I had let go like the story warranted, these people would have thought I was crazy.
Scene #2 – I am sitting in my coffee spot (appropriate considering the setting of the book)  and decide to read a couple of chapters before getting into my own work.  4 hours later, I am still reading.  It is a bit more rowdy in here so I can laugh to my hearts content. And, I make no progress on my own novel.
Scene #3 – It is 12:00 am. I have had a long day and am tired. I open my iPad just to finish the chapter I was on.  At 3 am, I finish the book and am still tired, but happy.  And even though I have to get up in 4 hours, I fall asleep giggling.

I won’t spoil the story for you, but something about Ellie, the main character, I could so related to.  Like Ellie, I am a former attorney and I want to be a published writer.  I am super clumsy (picture tripping over nothing and walking into doors) and have broken, sprained and separated multiple body parts. I tend to cut myself a lot, too. And, like Ellie, I tend to embarrass myself in front of guys I like.  That is all I am going to say about that.

So, I noticed this book and you should to.  Just make sure you are somewhere where you can laugh out loud and not worry about being hauled off to the funny farm.  HAHA!

The Nineties Blogfest

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle30 Comments

1990 – Favorite Movie – Goodfellas – Best Gangster Movie Ever

1991 – Favorite Sitcom – Seinfeld – although it debuted in 1990, I didn’t start watching it until season 2.

1992 – Favorite Album and Album Title – 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of . . . by Arrested Development – Song:  Tennessee, Mr. Wendal, People Everyday.  Favorite Lyric:   “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he’ll eat forever.”

1993 – Favorite Reality Show – The Real World Los Angeles – MTV was the only channel that was doing reality shows and The Real World was the original.  This season featured Tami, David, Beth, Jon, Aaron, Dominic, Irene, Glenn, Beth.  It was more then 7 because David got kicked off by his roommates for inappropriate behavior and Irene got married.  This show has come a long way.

1994 – Favorite TV Drama – My So Called Life – The whole series the cast would refer to other characters by their full name:  Angela Chase, Rayanne Graff, Jordan Catalano, Rickie Vasquez, Brian Krakow (I did that from memory.) It was a great show despite being cancelled after the first season.

1995 – Favorite Movie Character Name – Keyser Soze from The Usual Suspects

1996 – Favorite Concert – The Fugees – Tallahassee, Florida

1997 – Favorite year for Movies – Titanic, Good Will Hunting, As Good as it Gets, Starship Troopers, Grosse Pointe Blank, The Devils Advocate, Boogie Nights, G.I. Jane, L.A. Confidential, Donnie Brasco (“For get about it”), Deconstructing Harry, Amistad, Face/Off, Contact, Affliction, Eve’s Bayou, Gattaca – Now, I am sure you could do this with any year, but truly some great movies came out this year along with a few of my all time favorite; Titanic, Good Will Hunting and Face/Off.

1998 – My favorite Book – Bag of Bones by Stephen King – one of his best.

1999 – Favorite Acting pair – Edward Norton and Brad Pitt in Fight Club

What are your favorites from the 90’s? 

My Weekly Update – Blog Hop’s a Plenty

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle5 Comments

I am participating in some fun blog hops over the next two weeks.  Join me!

October 15, 2012 – The Nineties Blogfest!

Dave invites us to post about our favorites things from the nineties.  Choose a favorite song, show, episode, movies, dance, etc for each year. I’ve been working on this post already and have some surprises.

October 17, 2012 – Did I Notice Your Book Blogfest

The Ninja and Knight have joined forced to host this great blogfest to support/promote other writers. I will be posting about a book I noticed recently.  I don’t do book reviews, so I am going to tell you about what happen to me when I read this book.  Can’t wait to share it with you.

October 26 – 29, 2012 – Spooktoberfest

 

Jackie and Dani have prompted me to write a 300 word Flash Fiction piece using the following words:  cobweb(s), cauldron(s),  jack-o-lantern(s), ghost(s), razor(s).  The story can be scary, comical, romantic, whatever I choose. Just be creative!  They will pick a winner on October 31, 2012.

October 29, 2012 – Monstrous Monday Bloghop

What kind of Monster?  Tim invites us to write about a monster we like/love/hate.  Well, I am going to tell you about a monster I hate.  And, this is going to be tricky because I am going to attempt to post a clip of this monster without me actually having to look at it myself because he/it creeps me out.

*Click on the badges for more information and to sign up. 

Post to Ponder
If It Makes You Happy – This post was so imaginative and I am happy I am not the only one who talks to her characters.
Scott Morrow’s Boost Blog Traffic Blog posted a great post by Chris Lappin 12 Blogging Mistakes That Make You Look Like a World Class Idiot. 
Kevin Hanrahan wrote How do our Troops Live Deployed? It got me into doing research on my new WIP.  A few of my characters are Marines.
New Followers
The Better Man Project – I linked his about page because it is pretty cool.  You need to check it out. 
Elicia M. Seawell
 
Next Week’s Schedule
Monday – Blogfest
Wednesday – Blogfest
Friday – Write Practice
Sunday – My Weekly Update