Insecure Writer's Support Group and Blogging Hiatus

NOTE: After this week's IWSG entry, I will take a break from blogging until January's IWSG in order to finish some writer's chores and handle all the Christmas logistics of presents, travel, and keeping the neighborhood squirrels well-fed. So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all, and to all, a good write!

Image: Yooperann

Okay, now let's turn our attention to another month of things that make writers go WAH or maybe WA-HOO, depending on your mood. Thank you to our supportive host, the amazing Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, and his hard-reading co-hosts this month:  Jennifer Hawes, Jen Chandler, Nick Wilford,Juneta Key, JH Moncrieff, Diane Burton, and MJ Fifield!

December's scintillating question:  In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what’s your plan to get there? 

Seriously? What is this? A job interview? Gah. Okay, I'll bite.

Where do I see myself five years from now?

(a) enjoying fame and fortune as my novel rockets to the top of the New York Times Best Seller's List

(b) whining that if I could only break my Netflix habit, then I could be awake enough in the morning to put a coherent sentence together

(c) realizing my potential by appropriately iterating cross-unit niches and energetically promoting wireless testing procedures which will dramatically engage quality partnerships and uniquely pontificate multimedia based users

(d) successfully petitioning for my release from the mental health facility my family will have put me in by then

And the ever-popular follow-up: What's you plan to get there?

(a) drop into a coma in which my every dream comes true

(b) inhale, exhale, repeat

(c) Credibly foster flexible scenarios (sounds like writing to me), proactively synergize technically sound deliverables (audio books anyone?), and most importantly, dramatically plagiarize enterprise-wide resources (by legally changing my name to Steven King). 

(d) Write petition now before I completely lose it.

Which of the above choices sums up your expectations for the next five year? Want to grab some of those awesome (c) phrases? Go here.

Whatever your path for the next five years, I hope it's a beautiful one. Peace.

Image: Torley

Celebrate the Small Things

Whoops! I totally skipped last week in the midst of Thanksgiving stoof. Stuff. Too much stuffing. Hopefully you had a wonderful Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it). I'm thankful for our wonderful host, Lexa Cain, and her co-hosts, L.G. Keltner and Tonya Drecker.

 So here's what's new:

Image: scrapkat1 (Not our village, but you get the idea.)

1. We got our Christmas tree up and the other holiday decorations out. Many years ago we started a collection of little houses (you stick a light bulb in the back to illuminate them). Now we have so many, getting them out of the basement, up the stairs, and out of their styrofoam boxes is a huge pain in the gluteal region. But the kids like them. And if I stare at them long enough, I get the strange urge to write a story set in our "village". Some day.

Image: Buddhika Gammudali

2. Last CTST, I mentioned our new stray kitty. Last night Mr. M and Pretty Kitty got into a huge brawl on our back deck. In the pitch, black dark. Sounded like the image above. Benches knocked over. Green tomatoes everywhere. Mr. M's ears are torn up, but I'm hoping that's the only thing wrong. I have no idea how Pretty Kitty is doing. Why in the world am I celebrating this? Okay, I'm not. But speaking of my last CTST, my daughter did make it into Mary Poppins (ensemble), so yay!

Image: benyclark

3. After years of using a 2G flip phone, the AT&T takeover has forced me and my husband to update our cell phones. Now I've got a . . . 3G flip phone! Bah-dum-dump. Okay, stop laughing. It takes pictures. Really. 

Do you go all out decorating for the holidays? Are you and your smart phone permanently attached?