I have jumped into the pool...

And I don't know how deep the water is!

Last week, Amber Wentworth, the President of the RWA Futuristic Fantasy and Paranormal Chapter put out a distress call. FF&P had such an overwhelmingly positive response to their On the Far Side Contest for unpublished authors that they didn't have enough judges. And I volunteered. God help me.

I wanted to help, generous soul that I am, and Amber has gone out of her way to help me in the past, so it was time to pony up... but I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. God help the poor unpubbs!

The first thing that I did was to go to the FF&P website (it's listed here in the VERY USEFUL; VERY IMPORTANT sidebar) and copy and read the rules. Then I did the same thing with the judge's score sheet. Amber then followed up with detailed instructions. Ohhh, this is going to take a lot of thinking. I might even learn more from this than if I had entered the contest itself. Cool!

That's all well and fine, but the thing that really excites me is that there were so many unplanned for entries. This tells me that there is a growing interest in my writing genre of choice, Science Fiction Romance. What better way for me to help promote the genre in which I hope to succeed than to encourage other unpublished writers. Those aspiring writers are presently readers. Publishers take note: the market is growing.

Happy writing, happy reading,

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future

Bracing for the Storm

We just got through with Fay and here comes Gustav.

I hate storms. Fay wasn't really so bad. At least we didn't have any violent rain or winds with her. Just steady soaking rain, which was good. I don't trust Gustav, though... too Teutonic sounding to me. I hope he doesn't plan a blitzkrieg like Katrina.

July was a drought, and August a flood. I didn't have to cut the grass once in July, and most of my flowers turned to dried brown husks. Since the first of August we have had rain after rain, some of it pretty violent. I lost several trees in the first storm and struggle to prevent erosion all the time. On the good side, the Phlox and Jessamine are blooming again, and perfuming my evening games of tag between the Supreme Pasha Zachery and his harem-girl Maxie Cat. On the bad side, the grass is up to my knees, and I can't see either of them when they go after each other.

This morning was a rush to continue working on the new drain, and lay in supplies before Gustav. At the local Farmer's Market, I ran into an old friend at the Master Gardeners' tent. We began discussing "thug" plants and erosion control. She is using the same technique as I. If you have any problems with erosion, try planting the area with Lirope or Mondo Grass. They are garden "thugs", and their roots will hold almost anything against Hell itself.

There is an area in my yard that wants to wash into the Gulf of Mexico and take half my hill with it. I put in the new drain at the head of the ravine; but, it can easily clog, and when that happens - bye bye hill and 200+ year old drive! This is where the Lirope and Mondo Grass come in. Therefore, when the storm arrives in the wee hours tomorrow night, or soon thereafter; I will probably be out keeping the drain open. Remember me after Gustav makes landfall. Are we having fun yet?

Wishing I were writing,

Frances
Writing Science Fiction Romance,
When when life isn't happening.

Attitude for Life

A few days ago, I read a blog post that I considered to be outstanding. It was about attitudes. As I read, it occurred to me that there is only one thing in life over which each one of us has absolute control... that is the attitude with which we face life each day. It is ultimately our individual choice, and no other's.

Today I received permission to link to the post. The author, Lise, describes the transformation of her attitude for living. I thought that she had some wonderful advice for mental health and am passing it along. I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I have.

Lise Speaks: Epiphanies.

Thank you Lise, for sharing with us.

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future

I Have Been Tagged!

I think that Heather over at Galaxy Express thinks that I have been AWOL from posting for too long. She tagged me today. She is so evil! So this is the way the game is played:

Copy the list below. Mark in bold the movie titles for which you read the book. Italicize the that you’ve watched. Tag 5 people to perpetuate the meme. (You may of course play along anyway.)

1. Jurassic Park
2. War of the Worlds
3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
4. I, Robot
5. Contact
6. Congo
7. Cocoon
8. The Stepford Wives
9. The Time Machine
10. Starship Troopers
11. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
12. K-PAX
13. 2010
14. The Running Man
15. Sphere
16. The Mothman Prophecies
17. Dreamcatcher
18. Blade Runner(Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
19. Dune
20. The Island of Dr. Moreau
21. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
22. The Iron Giant(The Iron Man)
23. Battlefield Earth
24. The Incredible Shrinking Woman
25. Fire in the Sky
26. Altered States
27. Timeline
28. The Postman
29. Freejack(Immortality, Inc.)
30. Solaris
31. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
32. The Thing(Who Goes There?)
33. The Thirteenth Floor
34. Lifeforce(Space Vampires)
35. Deadly Friend
36. The Puppet Masters
37. 1984
38. A Scanner Darkly
39. Creator
40. Monkey Shines
41. Solo(Weapon)
42. The Handmaid’s Tale
43. Communion
44. Carnosaur
45. From Beyond
46. Nightflyers
47. Watchers
48. Body Snatchers

I tag... (and please don't come after me for revenge! :-)
Jace: Jace Scribbles
Cheryl: Butterfly Books
Clare: The Haven
Dawn: Take it to the Stars
Jordan: Jordan Summers

Now I have confirmed my geekiness to all true Sci-Fi aficionados. I have to hang my head in shame.

Sorry that I have been out of sight, but with classes, rain storms and erosion, and trying to write, I have been so tied up. I have two other posts written and ready to go. All it will take is a little time to get the photos ready to go with them.

See you all soon,

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future

I Am So HTML Challenged

HTML - Hypertext Markup Language.

Does that scare you as much as it does me? I thought so. Well again my marketing loop came through with a goody that I thought that I would pass along. Lisabet Sarai has a wonderful page explaining HTML on her website:

http://www.lisabetsarai.com/html101.html

I confess that I am HTML illiterate. However, I am working on it. If you, like I, are deficient in this area, here is an excellent place to begin learning. My ambition is to create mine own website before I start shopping my manuscript. In any case I will definitely need to know how to handle the website when I do have it. Lisabet's article made some things clear that I had no idea of before. Thank you Lisabet.

Happy writing,

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future

Happy Swiss National Day

Thank you to you, friends from Switzerland, who have taken the time to stop by my blog. I wish you all happiness on your National Day. Since 1291, you have never lost sight of freedom for your country. May you always treasure it.


You have shown the rest of the world that people of different languages and backgrounds can live and work together happily. All the best for the future.

Have a wonderful day in your beautiful country with your children's parades, your bonfires, and your fireworks.

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance

Real Love in a Real Future