THAT SADIE THING BLOG TOUR WITH ANNALISA CRAWFORD

I am so excited and honoured to have the awesome and talented Annalisa Crawford over, visiting my little blog. Welcome Annalisa and enjoy!


Thanks for having me over today, Murees!

Open Windows is a peculiar story for me to talk about, because I don't really remember writing it. That's quite strange, isn't it? I do remember that the first thing I wrote was the part where Michael's ghost asks Jackie if she has a pencil, and she throws it into the empty room. For ages that small passage stayed in my notebook.

I wrote this story in 1994 - you might see me mention that year a couple more times during this tour because it was one of my most prolific years for short stories. I was unemployed at the time, and between applying for jobs and opening letters telling me I hadn't been successful (back when they used to let you know you were a failure rather than just let you forget you'd applied in the first place), I wrote a lot.

Open Windows originally won third prize in a competition called Little Acorns, held by a lovely man who would hand-write one or two sentence critiques. For that reason alone, I entered almost every single monthly competition he held, because just having someone take me seriously as a writer was a huge boost. On a couple of occasions these critiques came with a cheque attached - you can probably imagine my joy!

A couple of years later I entered the story into another competition, a local writer's circle comp, because Little Acorns didn't publish winning entries, so I could resubmit. This time it was published - yay!


About Annalisa
I live in Cornwall, with a good supply of beaches and moorland right on my doorstep. I live with my husband, two boys, a dog and a cat. Despite my location. I neither surf nor sail, and have never had any inclination to try. I much prefer walking along the beach and listening to the waves crashing over rocks. For this reason, I really love the beach in the winter!

Buy That Sadie Thing here (this link should take you direct to your local Amazon)
Follow Annalisa here, or Like her here
Read her blog here

BE BRAVE (IWSG)

I have always been the kind of person to think things through and plan things ahead. Of course, when I decided to become a writer, I took a similar approach and do you know what? I am not any closer to my dream of being a successfully published author.

My point? Sometimes you just have to take a chance. Submit that book proposal. Talk to a person that knows more about that career path that you want to follow. Ask that cute guy or girl out on a date. Be brave, live.

I feel like I have been planning and planning and I still end up disappointed. So if you are like me and have been getting the short end of the stick, lets be brave and dare to do something different.

Annalisa Crawford will be stopping by my blog tomorrow to talk about That Sadie Thing. If you want to, you can come over and say hi to her. I know she will appreciate it.

The Insecure Writers Support Group was created by the wonderful and talented author and blogger, Alex J. Cavanaugh. You guys can visit Alex over at http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com.

RARE SIGHT TO SEE

I just had to share this rare little phenomenon of really heavy hail with you guys. Just so that you know, this much hail is rarely ever seen in my town, no matter how cold it gets. It just makes me want to get back into bed. 

IT IS HIGH SCHOOL ALL OVER!

I have been trying to figure out why it is that I am not fitting in at my place of employment, even though I have gone out of my way to be nice and try and fit in as best as I can and I now know why. It is because it is high school all over again. For those of  you who do not know this, I was never popular. I was always a loner and I was just never good at making friends. Apparently I thought outside of the box and that is frowned upon.

Now, once again, I am the much talked about weird kid who is gossiped about and picked on. Walking into a place where everyone hates you is kind of upsetting and it does hurt my feelings, but hey, my family tells me that is what people do in the real world. They suck it up. A few months ago it was just my one co-worker that hated me and now it seems everyone at work hates me too and has joined her to destroy me or something.

Is there not a point in your life where the whole high school mentality stops and everyone starts thinking for themselves? Are there actually people who still care about who is cool and who is not? Are there actually still people that only wants to be friends with the cool kids? If there are, I can't even begin to understand that kind of mentality. I have never been the kind of person to have other people think for me or force me into things. I never wanted to be one of the cool kids and for some reason, that just makes me even more hated at work, which is my high school experience all over again.

FREE E-BOOK

Hey guys, Madeline Ann Stringer over at Reincarnated as a writer desperately needs your help with getting her e-book, Despite the Angels noticed. Her e-book is available for free download here or here and all you have to do is download it, read it and write a review on Amazon about what you thought about the book, please.

Or if you simply just want to read it, that is always good too. For those of you without a kindle, there is free software also available on Amazon that you can download here, so that you can read the kindle version. For those of you that prefer the paperback, you can purchase it here.

If you are interested, please check this out or if  you simply want to visit Madeline Ann over at her blog. that is cool too.

THOUGHTS ON A RAINY DAY

It was a rainy day today and the whole time while I was at work, I was thinking about how great it would be to be at home, snuggling under the covers with a big mug of hot chocolate and a nice book. I am suddenly feeling all warm and fuzzy.

I have recently started reading the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. My sister has been trying to get me to read them for years and I finally tried them. I must admit that they are very good. I read book one in just a few hours. Now I am happily moving on to book two.

What are you reading?

READING = FUN!

I just had to share with you a conversation that I recently had with my co-worker about books. Trust me, it is good.





Her: "You brought a book to work?"
Me: "Yes, because the past few days things have been slow and I really want to finish this book."
(There is a feeling of awkward silence and I put my book away)
Her: "You read...like...books?"
Me: Mouth just drops open in surprise.
Her: "I don't read books, magazines and newspapers only."
Me: Mouth still hanging open. I can feel my throat becoming dry.
Her: "I don't read books because then you actually have to concentrate and pay attention."
Me: Mouth still open in shock and maybe a bit or horror now.
Her: "I can't believe people read books."
Me: Mouth still open and feeling rather sad for her now. How depressing it must be not to know books can be fun.
Her: "I am much more of a singer myself. Why don't you sing? Why do you read books?"
Me: Knowing that there is just no use trying to share my thoughts with this person. She is so far gone, it is not even funny and there is just no saving her.
Her: "So that is what you do in your spare time, you read?"
(She sounds rather amused about that thought)
Me: "I write books as well."
Her: Her face is blank and devoid of any life at all.
(Even more awkward silence)
Her: "So what do you write?"
Me: "Paranormal Romance."
Her: Blank stare
Me: "Vampires, werewolves...things like that."
Her: "I don't like reading books. Anyway, why don't you sing? I sing. Singing is my life."
Me: "I write."
Her: Another blank stare
Me: Smiling in amusement, wondering what it must be like being so limited in one's thinking.