Wednesday Randomness – Can You Vague That Up For Me?

A Few of My Favorite Things: Quotes

It time for another favorite things post – this month it’s quotes. I adore quotes. Seriously love them. These are just a few of my favorites that are frequently used in daily life – some for writing, some for not-writing.

“In this parade of stupid and dumb, I am the one twirling the flaming baton.” – Loralei Gilmore The Gilmore Girls

“Can you vague that up for me?” – Buffy Summers Buffy the Vampire Slayer

“Not my circus. Not my monkeys.” – Polish Proverb

“Trust the story.” – Neil Gaiman

“Speak your mind even if your voice shakes.” – Maggie Kuhn

“Don’t forget – no one else sees the world quite the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories you have to tell.” – Charles deLint

“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” – Peggy O’Mara

“My hope is to leave the world a little bit better than when I got here.” – Jim Henson

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they ell us dragons can be beaten.” – G.K. Chesterton

“A lot parents will do anything for their kids except let them be themselves.” – Banksy

“You are the best kind of fucked up.” – Jenny Lawson

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” – W.B. Yeats

“I am and will always be the optimist, the hoper of far flung hopes and the dreamer of improbably dreams.” – The Doctor Doctor Who

“You have no power over me.” – Sarah Labyrinth

“He had noticed that events were cowards: they didn’t occur singularly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once.” – Neil Gaiman Neverwhere

“The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them.” – Maya Angelou

“Isn’t this enough? Just this world? Just this beautiful, complex, wonderfully unfathomable, natural world? How does it so fail to hold our attention that we have to diminish it with the invention of cheap, man-made Myths and Monsters?” Tim Minchin Storm

“We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edge of the print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.” – Margaret Atwood The Handmaid’s Tale

“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.” Linda Wooten

“The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math.” – Unknown

What are some of your favorite quotes? Share! Also, click the names below to see what quotes the other Wednesday Random bloggers are fond of.

Three Truths and a Lie

Okay, so this week we’re playing a round of three truths and a lie. And if you guess right in the comments, you can win an ebook copy of one of my books. I’ll be posting the answer on Friday.

1.) We lived in a commune after my parents got divorced.

2.) I learned to drive on an Allis Chalmers tractor.

3.) Touching (sometimes even thinking about) wet paper makes me gag.

4.) My dad once won me a horse in a poker game.

Be sure to click the other bloggers links to check out their truths and lie.

Five Words or Less – My Blog, My Fiction, My Creative Process

It’s time for another Five Words or Less post. This month, we’re talking our blogs, our fiction, and our creative process.

My Blog – haven’t missed post since 1/14

My Fiction – quirky characters, emotional, natural dialogue (I hope)

My Creative Process – shower faery, trust the story

I’m excited to read the other bloggers’ Five Words or Less posts. Click the names below to see what they chose!

Dear Adderall – A Love Letter

So, this week, the assignment was to write a thank you note to something that makes our life better. My choice, as you will see, was pretty obvious.

Dear Adderall,

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, I was super distracted all the time, but I managed okay.

I parented some great kids, I wrote some books, I crafted like a mad fiend, I drove kids from point A to point B. A lot of kids from point A to point B. I edited a crap-ton of manuscripts and coordinated a lot of editing related day job stuff.

Once in a while, I burned supper, but hey, shit happens. Sometimes you get an idea for a scene and you have to write it down, and before you know it, you’re scraping charred bits off your family’s grilled cheese sandwiches because you forgot to go grocery shopping and there’s no more bread and cheese to make more.

But the point is, I was doing okay-ish. Until I wasn’t.

I started burning supper all the time (not just some of the time like usual). I left the oven on for hours until the house had that vaguely burnt smell. I sometimes would leave the burner on under a pan until the whole house filled with smoke. Sometimes, I’d get in the car with the intent to go to say…the store. Or my mom’s. But I’d get so distracted, that I’d keep driving and end up somewhere else, often having no idea how I’d gotten there. Or worse, how to get back.

The most frustrating part of all was that I couldn’t write. It would literally take all my brain power, not to mention all afternoon, to string together two paragraphs. And that, dear Adderall, is not how books get written. It’s also not how kids get picked up on time, edible suppers are made, or any editing gets done at a reasonable pace. And forget about housecleaning.

I complained to my freaking awesome therapist about this bullshit, and she decided that we should play a game. A Bron Answers 100 Questions kind of game. So we did. And you know what, dear lovely Adderall? I scored super high on the Attention Deficit Disorder scale thingy. As it turns out, I have Inattentive ADD. I was stunned. How could this be? I wasn’t like the other people in my family who have ADD. However, it should be noted that when I shared my startling revelation with those closest to me, no. one. was. surprised. Literally, no one. Not my husband, my kids, my friends, my former daycare children, my siblings, no one. Nobody. Only me.

Apparently, I’d had some pretty stellar coping mechanisms in place, but time, and the fucktacular hormones related to the onset of peri-menopause set in, my coping mechanisms began to fracture and fail. Spectacularly. And that’s when my therapist said, “Hey, you know…they make stuff to help with this sort of thing.”

I admit, I was resistant to the idea of taking medication. I didn’t want to have to take something to be “normal”. I worried that I might be focused enough to write but that my creativity would be stifled. I worried that you, dear Adderall, might make me less me. Even though my therapist assured me that you were more akin to putting glasses on my brain rather than altering my thought processes, I was still nervous. And then I nearly started the kitchen on fire. Again.

I got the prescription filled. And it was like having glasses on my brain. I could think again. As soon as that stuff kicked it, I decided to open up my manuscript and attempt to write. And you know what? I wrote over five hundred words in under half an hour. And they were good words. Words I didn’t feel the need to rewrite or delete.

I was thrilled. Still a little cautious, but thrilled. It’s been nine months, and I know we’re probably still in the honeymoon phase of our relationship, but I don’t get in the car and end up in strange places any more. I don’t wander away and leave the gas burner on the stove going. I don’t forget to pick up my kids. My editing process is amazingly smooth and fairly organized. And Adderall? Dear, lovely, sweet Adderall, I can write again. I’d forgotten what it was like to write words without struggling to the point that I wanted to scream. I’d forgotten how much fun writing is when I’m not practically weeping at the difficulty of stringing together ideas in any kind of coherent way.

So, to sum up, Adderall, my sweet. Thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my easily distracted little heart. You’ve made my brain work again, and I feel a zillion times less likely to burn down the house, or get lost and far more capable of finishing books. You’re a lifesaver. And I love you.

Thanks for being awesome,

HUGS

Bron

Check out the links below to see what the other bloggers want to thank.

Wordless Wednesday: On My Walls

Click the names below to find out what the other bloggers have on their walls.

I would rather chew broken glass wrapped in tin foil than…

So this week, we’re talking about our Anti Bucket List – things that we never, ever, ever want to do. Ever.

These are in no particular order, but I never want to…

Go to Vegas. Call me boring, but this just holds no appeal for me. It sounds completely overstimulating and overwhelming, and I think I’d be rocking in a corner somewhere. Yes…I know they have all kinds of cool shows and stuff, but oh god…the lights and the noise and the people. The idea of that just makes me want to turn off all the lights and sit quietly in a dark room.

Explore a Tropical Rain Forest. Dude. They have spiders the size of small dogs there. And also lots of hideous, ginormous bugs, and unimaginable heat and humidity. None of these are things I would even remotely enjoy. Especially, the giant soul-sucking spiders. (I assume they grow so large be feeding on souls.) Besides, there are plenty of other places I’d rather go.

Go to Australia. I was all about going there. Until I saw the size of the spiders they have there. No. Fucking. Thank. You.

Cliff diving, bungee jumping, skydiving, mountain climbing. Nothing up high. Nothing that requires falling or jumping. I mean, I’m great at falling. So great, it’s practically my mutant ability. I also have vertigo. And I’m clumsy. And afraid of heights. A couple of summers ago my mom and sister and I went to see Fleetwood Mac at a big stadium. I thought I was going to die climbing to our seats. I had to hang on to my mom’s shirt and stare straight at the middle of her back to make it up and down the stairs without getting dizzy and falling over. So yeah – anything like this? No way.

Confront my phobias with desensitization therapy. This seems like the worst idea ever. I’m perfectly content living with my fear of clowns, spiders and being buried alive.

I’m sure there are more things that I don’t ever want to do, but these are the ones that popped into my head first. Click the names below to see the other bloggers’ Anti-Bucket Lists.

Goals for 2015

It’s that time of year where everyone makes plans and sets goals and generally decides what they’d like to accomplish during the coming year.

I’m no exception to this tradition.

So…these aren’t in any particular order, but here’s what I’d like to accomplish.

1.) Finish my first YA series.

2) Finish the four stories currently on my plate.

3.) Get the business with friends up and off the ground.

4.) Continue to eat healthier.

5.) Exercise more (ugh…but it must be done)

6.) Continue to purge my house of excess belongings.

7.) Read at least a couple books (for pleasure) a month.

8.) Finish knitting my sweater and start the next one.

9.) Sew through one of the boxes of fabric in my craft room/office.

10.) Get the clay out and work on some pieces (and try to find a place to fire it).

11.) Spend more time in nature.

12.) Have an amazing writers retreat.

13.) Finally meet Chaos Chris in person.

14.) Speak up when I should.

15.) Learn to make some natural beauty projects.

16.) Grow a more successful garden than this year.

17.) Continue to try new things.

18.) Combat procrastination more effectively. (I can hear you all laughing, but it’s cool.)

19.) Continue to blog weekly.

20.) Write daily.

Click on the names below to see what the other bloggers’ goals are.

Jess

Kris

Gwen

Wishing you…

happiness, friendship, love, peace, and laughter during this holiday season and always.

And also really good food.

I hope that this time is free of stress for you and your family and filled with all of the people and things that make you happy.

Click the names below for holiday greetings from the other bloggers!

Jess

All I Want for Christmas…is not Mariah Carey

No really. She bugs the ever loving hell out of me. Mariah Carey. Not this little girl. This kid is awesome. And reminds me of Jenny Trout’s daughter.

Okay – so my Christmas gift list isn’t terribly extensive or expensive …well, okay, one thing is, but this is what’s on my list besides gifts for humanity that involve things like world peace, foods free of GMOs and toxins, an environment free of pollution, equality, food, water and medical care for all..

Okay…my list.

1.) Health and happiness for my friends and family.

2.) A wonderful new job with awesome health insurance for my husband.

3.) A clean house.

4.) A clean refrigerator.

5.) A kitten. (Just a small one.)

6.) A pile of finished manuscripts.

7.) A new laptop. Mine is trying to die.

What’s on your list? Share! And click the names below to find out what my fellow bloggers would like to find under their trees.

Five Biggest Writing Distractions

Yep…that’s me. I wander through life if a distracted daze, but most of the time, I still manage to get stuff done. But, it would be a lot easier without my top five distractions.

1.) The internet. Hands down, this is my biggest distraction – Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, Twitter, email, Ravelry, Netflix, Etsy…oh yeah. I’m a train wreck when it comes to the internet. And I often have to try to convince myself to disable it so I can work. I back you can imagine how that works. o.O

2.) Stress. Stress is a huge damn distraction for me. It’s almost impossible to focus on getting words out when there are stressful life situations going on.

3.) My family. Usually, I can get writing done in the mornings – no prob. However, my husband has recently had some changes in his work schedule that mean I am literally never. alone. in. my. house. I love my family. More than I have the words to express, but I crave solitude. I work better if I can be alone for several hours a day. This has not happened in the last month and I’m losing my damn mind. Yes, because of the schedule shift, he’s sleeping part of that time that I’m awake, but it’s not the same. At all. I’m hoping that there’s a shiny new job on the horizon.

4.) Other projects. It’s no secret that I like to get my craft on. I really like to get it on around Christmas time. It’s hard to force myself to write when there’s all this lovely yarn and fabric to be had.

5.) ADD. Looking at this list, I’m sure it’ll come as a surprise to NO ONE that I have Attention Deficit Disorder. I am on some lovely meds that certainly help me focus. But I’ll admit, it’s not a hundred percent.

So, these are my five biggest distractions. Do you have anything that distracts you from getting your stuff done? If so, what is it? Click the names below to see the other bloggers distractions.