Okay, so when I first saw this topic I laughed. Because, yeah, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Truthfully, I’d go with someone dropping a huge pot of money on me and living out my life as a wastrel gabillionaire. Buuuuut, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Dammit! And growing up . . . yeah that’s probably not going to happen real soon either since, on a good day, I average about twelve and a half. 

Anyway, the very first thing I remember wanting to be as a kid was a teacher. 

I remember forcing my poor sister, dog and stuffed animals sit in chairs as I “taught” them on my chalkboard. My Mom even bought me old textbooks to use in my teaching endeavors. 

For a brief time, I pretended I was a nurse. I read this amazing book Cherry Ames, Student Nurse over and over. 

I made my own nursing cap out of paper and would nurse my stuffed animals in the ward I created using the two bedrooms and the living room. Mom even bought me a doctor kit. Sometimes, I made my sister be a patient and she’d actually get the candy pills. She was so privileged. 

I had the usual daydreams about being a famous dancer or singer, but those pitiful professions faded in the face of becoming a pirate or incredibly warrior princess.

I wanted to be Xena before she’d ever been created. The best way to become all these amazing women was to write. I began my writing “career” at about twelve when I wrote my first book. It was all about an incredible female pirate. I don’t remember much of the plot, but she sailed around, stole stuff and everyone feared and worshiped her. 

From there, my imagination could not be stopped. I could spend my days daydreaming amazing stories where I could star in each and every one of them. Yeah, I’m sure you can figure out what my grades in school were. LOL! Not good. 

I can thankfully say I’ve lived out two of my dreams. I was a classroom teacher for 5 years and taught in a museum for 5 years. I’ve also been a published author for fifteen years. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to become a warrior princess. If anyone has an idea let me know. I am so open. 

Now go and check out what the other bloggers have to say. I will see you all next week. — Gwen

Bronwyn
Jessica D
Paige
Kayleigh

I’ve always loved to read. I remember, as a child, riding in the cart while at the grocery and Mom telling me if  I was good I could have a book. Yeah, you’d better believe I was good. I wanted a Little Golden Book. And yes they sold those at the grocery when I was a kid. 

I know I had tons of books, but there are ones that stand out for me. The first one I remember reading on my own was LGB Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

I loved the story of a woman learning to be a witch and flying a magic bed to a magical kingdom. I remember having to go into Mom to have her help me pronounce Naboobu. Other than that, I could read the book all on my own. 

Another book I loved was another LGB called The Monster at the End of the Book

It was so daggone cute and I read it over and over. I loved Grover. When I was old enough to jump to “chapter books” Mom started getting me Nancy Drew.

I thought Nancy’s life was so exciting as she drove around in her fabulous convertible and solved crimes. I loved the books so much, Mom signed me up for a Nancy Drew club and they would mail us a two book set each month. I couldn’t wait for the book to come in the mail. 

I know I’ve mentioned it before in past blog posts, but The Secret Garden was my very favorite book.

My grandma bought it for me and I devoured it. I still have that original copy she gave me as well as many others. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve read it, but when she first got it for me I bet I read it four or five times. As soon as I finished it, I would restart it. She also got me Little Women and I liked it, but nothing close to The Secret Garden.

Another girl detective I loved was Trixie Belden

I discovered these on my own on one of our many trips to the bookstore. I was hooked from the first book and Mom was so thankful she had a new idea for gifts. 

In the middle of reading girl detectives, I also discovered romance novels. I was probably 12 when I read my first one. Unfortunately, this was back in the 70s when the books weren’t good at all.

Yep, I read the above book. And when I finished, I was sorely disappointed. Not only did they kill off the “indian maiden”– Yuck–but the author did it in a graphic horrible rape scene. When I finished the book, I thought, I can do so much better. There was one book I really loved though. It was called The Windflower by Laura London

I liked the book because there were parts of it that made me laugh. That was the first time I realized that romance novels didn’t have to be all serious. Yes, he was a total jackass (as all men were in novels of this period), and I would have so kicked him to the curb. But the book was fun and that’s what made it different. 

Now run out and see what books the other bloggers wax nostalgic about. I’ll see you next week! — Gwen

Bronwyn
Kellie

Hello! If you haven’t seen a Promptly Penned post before it’s really simple. We are all given the same prompt and we have to craft a small piece. Easy? Sometimes and other times not so much. This month the prompt says:

You stumble upon old home videos of you and your siblings as toddlers. Nostalgia fades when you realize something isn’t quite right. 

*que ominous music* Bwahahahahaha! Okay so here goes:

Now go over and check out what the other ladies have done with this.

Bronwyn
Kris

Hello and welcome to the randomness that is Wednesday. For my first fabulous trick let me unveil Wednesday Male Hotness

*sigh* The pics always make my day start out brighter. You? Anyway, today we’re chatting about our writing strengths and weaknesses. I’ll start with my weaknesses since, for me, the downer stuff is so much easier to list. The reason is, I often focus on that stuff first. 

My weaknesses are my procrastination in writing. I’m sure you’ve noticed since I haven’t finished a book in . . . yeah, I’m embarrassed to even mention how long it’s been. I put it off and put it off and never get anything done. Next, when I do write I’m never satisfied. I have to keep going back and fixing. I will admit I’ve gotten better at this since I used to polish and polish . . . a first chapter. Yeah, can’t put those on the market. Last, I can’t stay focused on one project. I jump from book to book, which is another reason I never finish.

See, easy to do. I whipped those out in less than a minute. 

Okay, now for my strengths. First, I never lack for ideas. Dreams,  songs, a story someone tells me, it doesn’t matter. My mind instantly starts spinning a story. I’ve always done this, which is why my grades were so poor in school. I could sit and daydream an entire class away without hearing a word the teacher said. Second, it doesn’t hurt when I put on my editor hat to hack and slash through what I’ve written. I know that sometimes getting rid and rewriting is the best thing an author can do. I’m not so enamored of my own words that ever one is sacred. *snort* As if. Which leads me to my last strength. I can take criticism. In fact, I like it as long as it’s constructive. The only way I’ll ever get better is for someone with insight to give me guidance. And, as long as someone can give me a good excuse why something needs to be done, then I’m all on board. Like I said, I’m not so enchanted with my own words that I won’t change or delete. Hell the book I’m working on now has taken so long because I’ve basically rewritten the entire thing. 

So, there you have it. What I consider my writing strengths and weaknesses. Now, run and check out what the other bloggers have to say. And if you want to leave a comment below I read ever single one. See you next week! — Gwen

Bronwyn
Jessica
Kris
Jessica D

Hey! Okay, so if didn’t know I work at a bookstore. Most of the customers are totally awesome. In fact, I have regulars I deal with who are tons of fun. Then again, we get those special snowflakes we have to deal with that try every one’s patience. This is one of those stories.

This story is totally true and, unlike the last post, this actually happened to me. Truly.

The phone rings and I give my bookstore phone spiel. A guy on the other end tells me he needs to return a book. That, in and of itself, is no problem, especially if the customer has a receipt and it’s inside the return window. Yeah, but this isn’t that easy. Remember we’re dealing with a “special” snowflake.

The book happens to be for school. In fact, the book is a textbook. Even bigger fact that this guy has already unwrapped the textbook from it’s protective shrink wrap. Whoops! 

“I’m so sorry,” I say. “Once you take the book out of the wrap it’s non-returnable.”

“Yeah, but you don’t understand,” snowflake says. “It’s not the right book. Once I got into the class and started working in the book I realized it’s not the right one.”

Wait! What?? Oh yeah, he’d already highlighted passages in the book . . .with a yellow highlighter. Then he realized it wasn’t the right book and he wanted to turn it to us and he wanted a full refund.

“So let me get this straight,” I say in the voice I used to use while teaching 5th grade, “you purchased the wrong book, opened it, marked in it and want to return it to us?”

“Right,” he says, “it’s not the right book and I paid over $200.00 for it. I still have the receipt.”

“The receipt isn’t the issue. The issue is you took it out of the packaging and wrote in it. That makes the book non-returnable.”

“But it’s the wrong book,” he says, as if I’m the idiot.

“I’m sorry,” I say, grabbing for patience. “But, you ordered the book and you wrote in it. We can’t take it back.”

He huffs out an exasperated breath. “It was over $200.00 and I can’t use it. I need to get the money back so I can get the right book.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, again, “but we can’t take the book back.”

“Look, let me just talk to a manager. I’m sure once I explain they’ll understand.”

As if I didn’t understand some mysterious something that would make me take this trashed book back. And, because I’m not in charge, I tell him to hold on. I contact the manager on duty and explain what happened. The manager actually hurries across the store so he can look me in the face to find out if I’m joking. Yeah, unfortunately not.

He laughs and takes the phone call and tells the guy on the phone the same exact thing I’ve been saying. Once he hangs up, he looks at me and we both laugh. Because, really what else can we do. 

So, if you order a book for school, take it out of the protective wrap, and write in it I won’t take it back. No matter what. Just letting you know.

See you later! Gwen

Welcome back to the randomness that is Wednesday on the blogs. Today, we’re wordless, which, for me, you know is never the case. Oh first let’s showcase WMH

Okay, so today’s topic is sadness. Yeah, I’ve been fighting a battle with depression for . . .  almost a year now. Some days I’m good, some I’m ehhh, and others it out and out sucks. So this topic is tough. Let’s see how we can “lighten” sadness up, shall we?

Hey! And welcome to my first Promptly Penned. If you’ve never seen this before, we’re given a writing prompt then have to jump off from there. Each of us has the same one so it’ll be fun to see how we use it. Okay, so here goes.

Now go over and check out what the other bloggers have written.

Bronwyn
Kris
Paige
Kayleigh

I started working at an unnamed bookstore last June. I love books, obviously, and being around them all the time seemed like the perfect place for me. And it is . . . other than the customers. 

Okay, don’t get me wrong. Not all the customers are facepalm worthy, but there are quite a few who aren’t playing with a full deck. So I thought I would share some of the more fantastical stories I’ve collected. What I share with you is 100% real. These are really real people who are out there living in society and, somehow, walking around taking care of themselves. I know, I know, I’m stunned too. 

Oh, jeez, where to begin. Okay, so this one didn’t actually happen to me, but to someone I know (code word for coworker).

A customer walks into the bookstore and comes up to the desk to inquire about a book. Now sometimes you get the people who don’t know the author or the name of the book. Hell sometimes you get people who just tell you the book is blue and expect you to know which one they mean. Nope, not this Einstein.

This lady comes up and asks for a copy of Medea

Now before you get excited, let me stop you. This fabulous customer then goes on to say . . .

“Now I know it’s written by Tyler Perry, but I’m not sure what part of the store I’d find it in.”

And yes, this is a truly true story. Bless her heart.

And have a truly wonderful day. See you Wednesday!! — Gwen

Greetings sad humans. I am the perfect and elegant Baroness Abigail von Kitty. Look upon my effortless resting bitch face and envy me.

I am looking for some worthy souls to volunteer as day slaves. The help I have are slackers and aren’t available during the day. Your duties will include worshipful petting, feeding me chicken, litter box duty, feeding me chicken, cuddling, feeding me chicken, listening to be bitch at you, and feeding me chicken. If you think your tiny brain can handle these duties please apply. Oh and bring chicken as an offering. Offerings will get you far.

The Supreme and Fabulous Abigail

If you’re interested in other blogs, which i doubt since they don’t involve me, you can check out the ones below. I’m warning you though, they don’t involve me so unimportant. 

Bronwyn
Jessica D
Paige
Kellie

Welcome to the randomness that is Wednesday. Ah yes, so let’s get to why most of you are here. *drum roll* Wednesday Male Hotness

Our topic this week is why we write. I’m sure most of us will say some of the same things, but here’s why I write. As long as I can remember, my imagination has been filled with people. Tons and tons of people. As a kid, I could spend hours daydreaming the day away. I usually did since I was bored in school and it gave me something to do. Usually, the people were a mixture of characters in books and people that just popped into my head.

The people would have full on adventures and conversations and go places and do things. After a while, I wondered if other people had friends in their heads too. Yeah come to find out, not many people did. You get strange looks when you mention the people in your head that talk to you.

Anyway, I started to write stories when I was about ten or so. Off and on, nothing serious. Then in high school, I started to actually create character lists about some of the people in my head, but they weren’t fully formed yet. So nothing came of the stories.

Then I wrote a book that I’ve never published, but will once I do major revisions. The characters came totally from a dream and I crafted an entire book around them. Finally, the people in my head had an outlet. I could let them out to play and see if other people liked them too. 

Guess what? People did. So, I write because my head gets way too crowded and the tenants need a permanent home on  a page. This gives the huge condo in my brain room for new people to move in. Also, the more people I can get out onto the pages the quieter my brain will be. Does that make sense? Or does it sound slightly crazy? Yeah, I’m probably saying stuff that most writers experience but most don’t want do talk about. You know, because voices in head = padded cell. 

I write because it makes me happy and sad and frustrated all at once. I write because sometimes I can’t do anything else. I write because if I don’t then I feel as if I’m wasting something . . . time, talent, I don’t know. 

And, that’s why I write. Check out what the other bloggers have to say and I’ll catch you all next week. — Gwen

Bronwyn
Kris
Jessica D
Kellie
Paige