Stolen from aibhinn who stole it from earlgreytea68 who stole it from rosa_acicularis and so on and so on and so on...

Request any fic of mine and I will provide you with a commentary/annotations, like a DVD extra.

My fics are here.

As others have requested, just one chapter of a multi-chaptered fic, please.

Like aibhinn, I am in search of my muse. If you happen to spot her, could you tell her I miss her and would like her to come home?

I know I've been MIA for quite a while, even without counting the trip to England. (Which was FABULOUS and I'll get to in another post.) I've just not been too motivated to do much.

Let's see...I don't think I ever filled y'all in on my job situation. that Fox job I'd been offered? They pulled the offer the vey next week because I was going away to England during their launch.

But it seems I may have dodged a bullet. The station has been getting incredibly BAD reviews for its newscasts thus far. I have watched a couple and just shook my head in disbelief. It's not a great place.

So, I'm still freelancing and still trying to get a permanent spot at KUSI. The good news: Everyone seems to like me. They're trusting me with the flagship shows during the week, too, so I'm hoping something will develop. The news director has said we need to talk about the future, but he's been very busy trying to get some other things in place. im hoping those things will include some good news for me.

School started again and Tony is doing well so far. Student of the week for his class last week! I really like his teacher, too. He's been working with the resource team to really try to prevent the behavior issues from starting in the first place. The folks in child care are getting on board with that too, so he'll be able to get back into after-school care next week. And his best friend is in the after-school care every day, so I think that will really help.

DH is glad to have me back from England. He says being a single parent sucks!

Snagged from karenor

When you see this, post snippets of all your works-in-progress.

Maybe this will give me the much needed boost to get things moving again...if I can get real life stuff to stop killing my creativity.

( This is part of the long-neglected Llanada Villa, which I really haven't forgotten about. )

( Something a little meatier now. This has been floating on my hard drive for almost a year now. )

( And this is even older. There's really nothing to it. )

There's one other bit started in longhand, but nothing really excerptable (is that a word?) from it yet. I started it in England, giving myself some permission to be less disciplined in hopes that I could get writing again.

Anyone want to take this real life stuff away from me?

Just back from Comic-con. What a great day! Story and a couple of pics under the cut.

( My Comic-con Adventure )

A week from tomorrow, I'll be on a plane headed to Manchester!

I'm having a hard time believing that it's finally happening. There have been so many things that have gotten a bot in the way, mostly the job/money situation. And here is where I nominate my brother for the Best Brother In The World Ever award. He bought my ticket, and he pumped a bit of cash into our bank account to make sure that we'd be OK. In fact, he put in $500 more than I told him I needed.

Like I said. Best Brother Ever. Even if he doesn't answer the phone!

I've picked up a new suitcase, since the wheels on my old one have worn out. Now it's time to start packing, bit by bit. And to try to clean the house up somewhat before I leave. I told DH that I'm buying paper plates and plastic utensils and cups for them to use before I go. I do NOT want to find piles of dirty dishes upon my return. I think I'll be getting foil baking pans too. And disposable plastic microwave cookware. I know my boys...entirely incapable of cleaning.

Still pinching myself here!

So I've had 24 hours to process this.

( What I think. )

Picked this up from soules_cookies. I did OK on this list.

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

( Book List )

Just something fun from my hometown...a chicken on the loose at the local McDonalds. I've seen this bird and have watched the staff trying to catch her. They finally did last week. No, she's not McNuggets now.

http://www.pe.com/video/?z=y&nvid=252096

Well, not so much an interview as a serious discussion about terms for a full-time gig at KUSI. Keeping my fingers crossed that they don't lowball me and that they don't freak about my England trip this summer.

Someone e-mailed me this. Since I don't spam e-mail inboxes, I thought I'd spam my flist instead. **grin**


( A little heaven under the cut...work questionable )

It's just about 12:30, and a thunderstorm just rolled in. The lightning is virtually right on top of us, and the rain is pouring down! Unbelievable for this time of year!

Go here. Keep refreshing until you've collected five quotes that really resonate with you, then post them to your journal.

1. If you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don't hoard it. Don't dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke.-Brendan Francis

2. Remember! Things in life will not always run smoothly. Sometimes we will be rising toward the heights - then all will seem to reverse itself and start downward. The great fact to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward, that a line drawn through the middle of the peaks and the valleys of the centuries always has an upward trend. -Endicott Peabody

3. Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about.-Trey Parker and Matt Scott, "South Park."

4. Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.-Confucius

5. Confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can have. It's much sexier than any body part.-Aimee Mullins


And one extra that isn't profound and certainly is mean...but ooh, I like it right now for one certain person: "He is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death."

The interview at Fox6 went pretty well. I got to meet the anchors, the news director and the assistant news director. And all of them really spent more time TELLING me about their station than asking me questions about me. I got a tour of the facility (brand new, and the production control room is TO DIE FOR), and the Ass't ND actually apologized about asking me to take a writing test! I told him I *expected* to take one.

As I was leaving, the Ass't ND also gave me a salary estimate. Actually, he asked what I wanted, and I said, "I'll tell you what I always say to that question...I *want* $100K and a car! But what does it PAY?" He laughed and gave me the salary range...and it's about the same as I was earning at my two jobs. If I can bump it up a bit, it'll be better yet.

They UPS'ed an aircheck of last Friday's show for my critique. I've watched the first hour, but still need to view the second hour and then start writing. Then we'll see.

In the meantime...I've finally made contact with the Ass't ND at KUSI, where I've been freelancing. She's been on the graveyard shift and hard to reach. But she now knows that I am available, and is trying to work out bringing me in to meet with HR. And she needs to work out what shift to put me on...she did say I need to be open to any shift. She does NOT yet know that I'm interviewing with the competition as well.

*IF* KUSI can come up with the right money, I'd rather stick there. I knwo the people and the culture and the systems. But if they can't come up with the right money, I'll jump.

Also got a call from the unemployment office. Apparently KZSW was reporting my wages under my maiden name for one quarter. Very very very strange as I haven't USED my maiden name in 15 years. But since they could identify me, they say my claim is fine.

Which is good, becauseI'm going to be a bit nervous till I get another paycheck going.

C’mon, get happy!

twdw_ficathon is hosting a springtime “Happy Prompts” ficathon. Forget the heavy angst. We’ve put together 50 fluffy fic prompts (say that three times fast) for your writing pleasure.

Signups begin this Sunday and go through 4/27. Then you have all May to write your fic of at least 1000 words. Post your fic by June 1.

Want to know more? Right this way!

Cross-posted all over the place.

Tonight, it's in my nightly reading with my son. We're currently in the middle of "The Egypt Game," which was one of my favorites when I was a kid.

In tonight's chapter, I came across this line: "For instance, you knew that Mrs. Harkness would call the police is you stepped on her lawn."

I giggled. Tony didn't quite get it because he only knows "Captain Jack."

And it's a BIG one! About $1300 between the federal and state returns!

And I'd been so worried about this year. But between the extra withholding for my husband and the tax credit for the new hybrid car, we ended up ahead.

I know technically it would have been better if we'd merely broken even, but I'll take this, gladly. Already told DH that those funds are going into my England savings.

Politically, I never agreed with Charlton Heston. But oh, what a voice and a presence! I was sad to miss "The Ten Commandments" this year because I was working...I've always loved that movie. Rest in Peace.

Doctor Who....massive SQUEEEE! All I'm going to say for now.

Torchwood....yes, I cried. And I want to "fix" some things...but I'm not unhappy with the episode at all.

I once had a character tell the Doctor he could make a fortune selling copies of the sonic screwdriver on the Home Shopping Channel.

Imagine my giggles when I saw a commercial for this on the American Life Channel: Sonic Mop!

Time Lord technology, indeed!

Author’s Note: I started this last fall in response to something I read about compassion fatigue. It got put aside a few times; I’m still not sure that I haven’t been too self-indulgent with it. It's the longest thing I've written in quite a while.

This is for all of us who’ve had a bit of a tough time with things lately.

Storyline Note: By this time in the “Tracking Torchwood” timeline, Madhukar has left the TARDIS. That story still remains to be written.

( Sometimes a post-traumatic roll in the hay is the only answer. )

We don't owe a tremendous amount of money to Uncle Sam this year! In fact, Uncle Sam owes us money BACK!

Yay!

Not quite sure of the amount yet because we still have a little bit of a stock issue to straighten out. Seems eTrade misreported an adjustment as income. That's a couple thousand dollars of income that we certainly never got! We do owe a little bit of money to the state, but if we straighten out the eTrade business that might go away.

So, overall a Good Day.

Now I'm waiting for this dratted cartoon to end on Cartoon Network so I can pack the little monster off to bed and watch Torchwood. And then I might might might get a fic finished tonight (although, sadly, not "Llanada Villa" which is languishing in my imagination).