Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree

I'm sitting here when my son comes downstairs. "Guess what, Mom? As soon as my head hit the pillow, I got the biggest burst of inspiration. I grabbed my notepad and have already wrote a couple pages in my story."

Dude. Share some with me! Because I don't think sitting in front of the TV watching Season 3 episodes of The Office on my DVR is really going to do it...

Oh, and speaking of my DVR... I found Blind Date!!! If you've never watched it, it's this show hosted by Roger Lodge, where they match people up and send them on dates. (Hence, the title Blind Date). But the magic of the show is the subtitles they sprinkle all through the show. Freaking hysterical! I used to watch it all the time until I couldn't find it anymore. Until last night... I was watching a rerun of Hell's Kitchen on Reality Channel when the commercial for Blind Date came on. I was sooo excited until they mentioned it was on at like 2 in the afternoon. WTF??

That's when I remembered my lovely little box...my magical DVR that helps me by recording all the really bad reality shows I must see.

Anyway...what was I talking about? Oh yes, my son. He's got the writing bug! I'm so proud of him. :o) Maybe we can do a book together. Or he can give me some plot ideas...because I'm a little blocked right now. And no, I'm not talking about the kind that requires fiber. Okay, I'm going to wrap this up. Michael and Dwight are about to steal the copier... Now why can't I have ideas like this??

How You Know You've Totally Lost Your Mind...

This morning I pulled up to work and started gathering my stuff together. (This takes awhile and involves many bags). Once I was done with that, I looked in my purse for my work badge. It wasn't there. WTF? The one thing I always do before I leave home is make sure my badge is in there. So where was it?

My mind starts racing. Was I going to have to get a temporary badge? What if they didn't have any? Would I be forced to have people come with me every time I went in and out of the building to smoke. WHERE WAS MY BADGE???

Then I looked down again.

Oh.

It was around my neck.

Of course. I knew that!

I know I have blonde hair, but I kind of hoped I could rise above the stereotype. I hoped I'd be the one blonde who proves all the bad blonde jokes wrong.

Silly, silly me...

One of Lifes Big Mysteries

Why is that Chinese food always tastes better the next day? I've often wondered that.

New Commercial!

Take a look!

Eddie...what have you done for me lately???

Eddie Murphy, you should be ashamed!

When I went to bed last night, my husband was watching Norbit. I’d heard this was a bad movie, but that didn’t bother me. I’ve liked lots of movies that the critics hated before.

But this time…they were right.

Now, I have to admit I didn’t see the very beginning, but I really don’t think that would’ve helped.

The whole concept is that Norbit (played by Eddie Murphy…as most of the characters are), is an orphan who marries this awful woman (also played by Eddie Murphy…okay) who pretty much abuses him in the worst way and cheats on him right in front of him. She also hits dogs with her car. Why? I don’t know.

The other significant thing about her is her weight. Something that is beat into us (literally) for the entire movie. The worse being when they have her at a water park. After awhile, even I was a bit uncomfortable with the jokes. I agree with the comments a couple people left on IMDB, why does she have to be mean AND big?

Then there was Cuba Gooding Jr. Why Cuba? Why? You won an Oscar, dude! Do you remember? Show me the money!?!? Do you owe Eddie money or something? He wasn’t even a main character or funny at all. He was just…there… Wasting his talent.

There was also a skinny chick, played by Thandie Newton, who grew with Norbit as an orphan and has come back to buy the orphanage they grew up in, which BTW, I think is actually a Chinese restaurant. That part wasn’t clear to me since I came in after the beginning. Anyway, she is very nice, very sweet and also very skinny. What are the writers saying here? That only skinny people are nice? I’m pretty sure that Eddie helped write this movie, so that’s saying something right there.

The only character I truly enjoyed was the pimp. Here we are in this small town and for some reason you got this pimp walking around. When he’s at a town fair, he decides the girl in the kissing booth is going to be his ho. Yes, a cheap laugh, but there it was.

The one thing I kept thinking this whole movie was how Eddie changed into all these characters-which probably took him hours, for this piece of crap movie. What a waste of time!

I can’t recommend this movie unless you fast forward to Eddie Griffin’s part as the pimp. Otherwise take a pass on this movie.

RIP Heath...

I'm so sad to hear about Heath Ledger. I wasn't a huge fan, but I loved a lot of his movies. It's just so sad when we lose someone so young.

Sadly, I find myself on TMZ way too much looking for updates. I just wish it wasn't true.

RIP...

A New Year, a New Attitude

I've decided to go for something new this year. I'm going to stretch the boundaries when it comes to my writing. Oh, I'm still going to write the racing series...in my mind, it's not over until I write all the books I've planned for the series. But I really want to write something hotter, something I've never done before.

I just need to brainstorm how exactly I'm going to do it.

It's a new year, a new Melly. Watch out!!

Snow Day!!

It's a lovely day to sit inside while snow falls steadily outside. I'm so glad I didn't go out today.

I guess I should get some writing done instead of surfing the net and checking email.

Soon. Very soon.

I helped the Ferrets!

I've never really thought about black footed ferrets before, but since this whole Cassie Edwards plagiarism controversy hit the fan, I've learned so much more. It's sad when any species is endangered.

So Nora Roberts challenged all the "Smart Bitches" to help contribute to Defenders of the Wildlife so something comes from it. She's going to match up to $5,000. (But if you know Nora, she'll prolly add more to that).

Here is the article, if you want to learn more:

Smart Bitches Help Out

I sent in a donation. And I even get a windbreaker!! But seriously, it's a good cause, and I really can't resist. I might go back and adopt a wolf or something as well.

If you want the link to contribute that's here as well:

Defenders of the Wildlife

I also found a link about them on the National Zoo site:


Black Footed Ferret.

e A Novel

I just finished up a book called e A Novel by Matt Beaumont. I got it after reading some recs for his books on a couple romance blogs.

This is not a romance, but a very funny book "...told in a succession of emails that zip around the corporate network with escalating intensity." (That's from the back of the book.) I've always enjoyed books written this style. Meg Cabot had a couple books like this as well, although her books were romances, and this book is more like a trainwreck you can't help but stare at.

The book is about an ad agency set in London who is trying to win the all important Coke account. As you read the book, you watch as the agency slowly go down the drain, and the various characters that help take it there.

I think my favorite was the boss who couldn't stop copying the Helsinki office on every email he sent. He of course thought there was something wrong with email, when it was really operator error the whole time. The best was when he copied the entire corporation. Something most of us are afraid we might do at one point or another. :oP

I have to admit it took me awhile to get the characters straight. In fact, I think I'm going to go back and read it again, now that I know who is who. Yet even that didn't stop me from enjoying it.

I stayed up to 12:30 last night reading it and then woke up early so I could finish it. It's definitely a book I recommend to everyone who has ever worked in a office or just enjoys British humor.

Here's the Amazon listing for the book: e A Novel

I see he has other books listed. I'm going to have to look for those as well. For someone in a reading slump, this was a breath of fresh air!

The Island of Misfit Scenes.

In my current WIP we'll call, The One with a Ghost, or TOWAG, I had a scene all mapped out in my mind. It was going to be a very tender scene that would make everyone cry. Or roll their eyes. Whatever.

But when I finally sat down to write it, I forgot where I was going with it. First I tried it as a flashback from my hero's POV, which didn't work. I got halfway through the flashback and stopped. Then I tried having him reflect upon the memory, but stopped that scene as well, clueless where to go.

I really try to avoid flashbacks if I can, but sometimes I really can't resist them. Plus, the way my hero grows up explains a lot about the man now. But I seriously had no idea where I was going with this one.

That's when I created the Discarded Scenes file. Or, as the title of this blog indicates, The Island of Misfit Scenes. This file is going to be for those scenes that I didn't finish or that didn't quite belong where I was trying to fit them. Maybe I'll need them later. Maybe I won't. And maybe I'll even find a different way to express this memory from his past and it'll be still there for me to grab.

Now I just need to figure out a new scene...

Life's a beach.

One of the reason's that Racing for the Shore is based at the beach is because the beach is such a romantic location. The roaring waves, the beautiful sunsets and then there's that feeling of being the only two people in this universe.

The other reason is because I just love it. When my parents would take us to the beach, I would just stand on the shore watching the waves roll past me and make up stories in my mind. It was the best place to let my imagination run free.

Last night, me and my son were talking about something that led to me thinking about the Boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. Growing up, that was the vacation spot in the summer. Oh man, I LOVED the Boardwalk with its many wonders-the smell of Boardwalk fries, the sounds of video games, the Haunted House ride, the ferris wheel at the end. Oh and I can't forget the smell of t-shirts being pressed.

Anyway, our conversation got me so nostalgic, that I ended up Googling Ocean City and found a Boardwalk cam. Awesome! Now I could see the Boardwalk whenever I wanted!

Of course its winter, so you don't see that much, but today I've noticed that there are a lot of people walking the Boardwalk, all bundled up against the cold. Some are walking dogs, some are walking hand and hand. Now I'm envious. I want to be at the beach! I want to smell the salt air and hear the sea gulls calling!

That's why I wrote Racing for the Shore. I wrote it so that I could be there, even if it was just in my imagination, for a little while...

A New Look!

My website has a new look and I love it! Nonnie really outdid herself this time. :o) Be sure to check out the video that Shiela Stewart made as well. I'm very lucky to have friends who help me out.

In writing news, I've written a whole paragraph! Okay, that's not much, but after I kind of dropped out of the "sweating" challenge, it's a lot. I guess I should've known better to even try a challenge like that when I know how I am. I'm not a structured writer like that. If I'm not in the mood, I'm just not in the mood.

I don't think its writer's block. I think its a little touch of writing ADHD. If I force myself to write, just so that I can say I'm writing, the finished product is going to be crap.

Although I still think I need to set up some kind of writing area. That's what the office was for, but... My son has taken over that with this new computer. I think the plan is to get him a desk for his room so I can have it back. Then I can set up my laptop in there and have my own space.

That's the plan anyway. We'll see how it all works out. ;o)

Anyway, be sure to look around my website and see all the new litte gadgets I have! And we're still not done yet, so keep checking back!

Racing for the Shore in print!

You can get it from Linden Bay Romance (shipping paid) from this link:

Linden Bay Romance

Or you can find it at Amazon:

Amazon

Oh, and I have my first review!

Gotta Write Network Review

My friend and critique partner is working on a video for Racing for the Shore, so stay tuned for that! I can't wait to see what she comes up with! :D