Tattoo Tuesday – Michael P. Thomas

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle8 Comments

SydTatTWOIt has returned after a month long hiatus, we are back with a good one.  A quality guy, with quality ink.

Welcome, Michael.

Hey Sydney,

Thanks for considering adding me to your lineup — I do love me some tattoos.  Here are your questions, answered; I hope it’s stuff you can use.

1.     How old were you when you got your first tattoo?

Barely 18.  It was my freshman year in college, I went with a guy in my dorm I had the biggest crush on, it was his first one, too.  We were never boyfriends (alas), but we’ll always have Berdoo Tattoo.

2.     What made you want to get your first tattoo?

One of my friends in high school had one (scandalously!), and she inspired a conversation one day, a bunch of us talking about, “If I ever got a tattoo, I’d get…”  Couple months later, the opportunity presented itself, and voila.

3.     How many tattoos do you have? If only one, do you want more?

I’ve been tattooed eight times, by eight different artists, but one is a cover-up, so only seven of them “show.”

4.     What is your tattoo story?  Tell me the most recent or your favorite.

They all have stories, ranging from “Cuz my friend was getting one that day, too,” to “In memory of my friend who died quite suddenly.”  The sea turtle is probably my favorite, for lots of reasons, including its location — for years I longed for a forearm tattoo — and the awesomeness of the workmanship she put into it.

honu2September 11th of 2001 was something of a traumatic day for flight attendants.  I happened to be in Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii, and to tear me away from the constant and chaotic news coverage of my workplace being flown through the side of someone else’s, my friend took me snorkeling.  We’d only been in the water a few minutes, and we were practically swarmed by these sea turtles. They calmed, they comforted, they fed and frolicked, and they communed, at least with me, on a spiritual level that I have experienced in the Animal Kingdom neither before nor since.  We were both strong swimmers, but we followed them way too far from shore — we couldn’t tear ourselves away.  An ocean full of oblivious fish and sympathetic sea turtles shifted my focus dramatically, and made clear to me that the Circle of Life is so much bigger than we are, and so much more important than the events in any one life or of any one day, graphic and horrifying though they may be.  Like the waves in that same ocean, Life rolls on.  Towards you, then over you in the blink of an eye, and then, yes, on without you.  The honu is my totem animal now; I visit them often and learn something new every time, and with this tattoo, I can carry with me (and, some days, access) their strength, their grace, and their spirit of adventure.  Also, it’s just a gorgeous tattoo by an artist who “got” me and what I was going for, which I think always shows.

5.     Tattoos on a significant other, like or dislike?  Why?

Love ’em.  In my book, Kiss Me, Straight, Todd flips for his straight co-worker Josh, whose torso full of cheap, off-the-rack tattoos lends him a bad-boy-gone-good aura and heightens his sexy factor considerably.  In my real life, when I met my husband, he didn’t have any tattoos, didn’t have his nipples pierced — I had a lot of work to do.  And this kid went big, which I love about him.  He waited for the right tattoo and for the right artist (who did my sea turtle), and for his first tattoo he got a huge phoenix-man the length and half the breadth of his back.  And he’s 6’3, 350, so that’s a commitment to ink.  I think a well-chosen, well-executed tattoo shows a sense of adventure, a creative spirit, and a certain tolerance for pain, which are three deal-breaker qualities for me in the romance department.

Michael P. Thomas is a flight attendant whose passions include cheap wine, strong coffee, and fine-lookin’ men. His first novel, Kiss Me, Straight, is available in eBook and paperback at jms-books.com and on Amazon; his second one, Crazy Like Fox, comes out in September. He writes gay fiction because when he was coming out, he sure was glad to have it to read. After misspending his youth in San Francisco, he now gets his tattoos in his native Colorado, where he lives with his husband.

Visit him at misterstewardess.com
Follow him on Twitter @MrStewardess

If you have a tattoo story, let me now if the comments. I would love to feature you on Tattoo Tuesday.  

My #DFWCon by the Numbers

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle16 Comments

8 Seminars Attended – couldn’t even pick a favorite, they were all amazing.

1 Workshop Attended – didn’t go well.  The story I had critiqued isn’t very good and I am finally ok with it.  It was my first attempt at writing a novel and while I love the story, I came to realize it works much better in my head then it does on paper.

2 books purchased – believe me when I tell you I exhibited an incredible  amount of self control in only buying two.

The Wisdom of Hair by Kim Boykin – she conducted two seminars, Making a Story Great with Texture and The Way to a Women’s Heart. She was amazing.

Secret Sex Lives by Suzy Spencer – she conducted a seminar titled Murder & Sex, great information.

2 Pitches – my first attempted at pitching my story. I wrote my pitch in 6 different ways the morning of the first pitch. It never sounded right.  Finally, after a pep talk from the lovely Tameri Etherton,  I just went in and spoke from my heart.  I love this story and I guess it showed because . . .

2 Requests for submissions – I really don’t know how or why an agent asked for a request, in the pitch sessions, it seems like everyone was getting request.  I don’t care, I am happy to have some one care enough to ask follow up questions about my story and to hear them say, I would like to read more.  Coolest feeling in the world, every.  

Tons of amazing people – I met and talked to and learned from and admired and was humbled by so many people. It was so great to be around people who understand and can related to the weird, quirky, imaginative, off the wall, what in the world and strange way we think sometimes.  People who say, I know exactly what you mean.  It was nice to be around people who understand how blessed we are to call ourselves WRITERS!

Related Post – DFW Writers’ Conference

Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle30 Comments

InsecureWritersSupportGroupThanks so much to Alex for not postponing the IWSG.  I know we are all little tired from a month of A to Z challenge posting, but I can’t rest now. I need some help.

I mentioned a few months ago that I would be attending two writer’s conferences this year. I went to the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival in New Orleans in March. Had such a blast, but I had no responsibilities.

This weekend is the DFW Writer’s Conference. I have quite a bit planned.  Besides the many seminars I am looking forward to attending, I have an appointment to pitch my novel to an agent and I also signed up for a writer’s workshop where I get to share a few pages of my wip and get instant feedback.

For some reason, I am more scared about the pitch session then I am about the workshop.  I would much rather read my work to people and have them rip it to shreds constructively critique it the to try and sell my novel. Like to the point that I can’t even remember what my novel is about. Now that is scary.

I mean, is this a strange mental twist or what? I can handle someone telling me what I did needs some work, but can’t handle them telling me what I completed isn’t good enough. Now, I know a novel, pitched to an agent, is far from completed, especially if the agent likes it, it will need some work, but should my mental approach to these to two activities be different.  Maybe not?

Anyone else have this particular mental tic?  Any tips you can pass along on how to deal with a face to face pitch session with an agent? 

Thanks as well to this month’s co-hosts, Lynda Young, Mark Koopmans, and Rachna Chhabria!

Let me know if you’re going to DFWcon. We need to network. 🙂

Z – Zzzz or the End

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle12 Comments

a-to-z-letters-zWhy does Z stand for sleep. I am getting quite sleepy right now just think about it. While I would love to take a break and get some sleep, but I can’t. I have way to much to do. To many things are coming up. Z also stands for the end, the final, the last. For my last post of the A to Z challenge, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite post from A to Z:

A – Avengers, Captain America and As I Am by Alex Cavanaugh – Come on, it’s a post about the Avengers. Nothing more needs to be said. 

B – Best Crying Scenes in a Movie at World of My Imagination – The Steel Magnolia and Pursuit of Happiness scenes get me every time.

C – Getting too Comfortable by BDevereaux – Don’t get to comfortable

D – Disaster Movies at Tossing it Out – Some of my favorites are on this list, Titanic, 2012, Poseidon Adventure

E – Energize Yourself to Write at World of My Imagination – How do you do it?

F – F is for Fear at Scribbling in the Storage Room – “The enemy of creativity.”

G – A Grown-up Kind of Pretty by Tasha Seegmiller – on my to read list

H – How to Be a Good House Guest at Laugh-Quotes.com – read before you visit someones house

I – I is for Imagination at Tasha’s Thinkings – Synonymous with being a writer

J – Joy at Spunk on a Stick – You can’t steal mine. 

K – K is for King at The View Outside – my favorite author

L – L is for The Lincoln Memorial by Lara Lacombe- my favorite monument in DC

M – Memento by Alex Cavanaugh – Also includes the sign up for Alex’s Best and Worst Movies Remakes Blogfest, which is coming up on May 17th.

N – Never-ending at Wrote by Rote – Is your love never ending?

O – Oxford Comma by Margo Kelly – All you need to know about the dreaded comma.

P – A-Z Geek (P): The Favorites by Lynda R. Young – Prince Bride, enough said.

Q – Querying at My First Book – You can’t read enough about how to query.

R – What Makes Us Right? at The Madlab Post – Fair Game illustrates the point well. 

S – Sigma at Tara Tyler Talk – Great tips on show. 

T – The Time Traveler’s Wife by Tasha Seegmiller – On my to read list

U – Unified Theory of Writing at Moody Writing – Do you agree? 

V – V is for Villain (Best Movie Villains of All Time) by Reese Ryan – Who are  your favorite villains? 

W – W is for The White House, the Washington Monument and the World War Memorials by Lara Lacombe – Have you been to DC? 

X – X is for Project X at Blogging from A to Z – I have a project X, do you? 

Y – Y is for Young Ladies of Substance at Pensuasion – Love Jo March from Little Women the best. 

Z – Z is for Zola at The View Outside – Have you read Emile Francois Zola?

Thank goodness, I finished the A to Z Challenge. How did you do? What were some of your favorite post? 

Y – Yard Sale

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle10 Comments

a-to-z-letters-yYard sales are big business in my neck of the woods. I gather a years worth of crap that my parents and I have stored in the garage. Pull it all out into the front yard.  Slap a price on it and then watch them swarm.  It doesn’t take any advertising at all, people spend their Saturday mornings trolling the area looking for the discarded junk of strangers.  It is amazing to me.

This year I had a funny request:

“Do you have wires?
“What kind of wires?”
“Any kind of wires? Phone wires? Computer wires? Chicken wire?”
“I have computer wires and phone wires, but they go with the computer and phone I am selling.”
“Well, how much is the computer and phone?”
“Computer 25 and phone is 5.”
“I’ll take it.”
He handed me 30 dollars, gathered his wires and started to walk away.
“Wait, you forgot your computer and phone.”
“I told you, I just need the wires.”
Great, now how am I going to explain what happened to the wires when I try and sell the computer and phone, again.

Check out my yard sale:

IMG_0340 IMG_0342

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This the garage the night before.

IMG_0348 IMG_0345

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The yard the next day.  We earned 486.00 on this stuff.  I should quit my day job and do yard sales full time.

Do you hold an annual yard sale or garage sale?  Do you ever buy stuff from yard sales?