Thursday 14 April 2011

AUTHOR BLOG HOP-WHAT SOFTWARE HELPS ME WRITE

Morning all from Corfu,




Sorry I could not join you last week but, what with the 'visit', I had to do some spring cleaning.

Well, it’s Thursday blog hop time again, that wonderful day when we all get to answer a question in our blogs and then share. This week’s question is – what soft ware do you use when writing?
Being none too pc savvy, I had to think for a minute. Soft ware? That would be my comfy pyjamas. Being a bit of a cheat, I clicked on to blogs all ready posted and came away thinking, hell, I cannot compete with that. Okay, so I am not that ditsy. I do know all about word and windows media blah blah but I thought it would be fun to give you my tongue in cheek take on my most precious soft ware so here is my list of what soft ware is essential for my creative juices to flow.

First off - An essential that all authors, pubbed or aspiring need; a comfy 'soft' chair
After all, this is where I spend most of my time parked so it makes sense. Which brings me on to the nest soft essential. A nice, soft arse to hold up all that creative genius.






Comfy clothes are essential in this job.I spend all the winter dressed in a variety of my son's cast-off heavy metal t.shirts and pyjama bottoms. Lovely soft material


Now I am dressed, time for a crispy soft croissant and coffee



Before I begin, its time for my morning meeting with my agent. He is one of the softest agents I know



Okay, so now I am set to rattle off a couple of masterpieces before it is time for a lovely soft piece of cake and a cup of tea




Time for a bit of soft music from the lovely Darren{ you can't get any smoother or softer than him}





Which brings me on the highlight of my day. A beautiful soft pita all washed down bu a soft golden glass of mythos beer.




Of course by the now, I am exhausted from negotiating my way around all the soft ware I need to sustain me through my writing so time to fall into bed and dream up my next plot, staring the man with some of the sexiest eyes and softest lips on the planet.

Well, folks. I hope this answered the blog question. I have to say, I am a great fan of software.

See ya,

Viv

Monday 11 April 2011

Monday Muser's Mad Question Time - Roseanne Dowell



And a very glorious Corfu Monday it is too. So, without further ado, I would like to welcome this week's Monday Muser's victim, the wonderful and extremely talented Ms. Roseanne Dowell. When I presented her with her question, I think the poor lady nearly passed out but she has written a beautiful answer for us all. My question was....




If you had three wishes what would you wish for? Haha - not so easy. These wishes must be entirely selfish. No world peace blah blah. This is all about you.

I turn you over to Roseanne...

Three selfish wishes. Wow, that's a tough one. Probably the first wish would be: for me and my husband's health. For no diabetes and blood pressure problems and no emphysema for hubby. It would be great to take a walk and not have to stop and rest until he can breathe. I'd love to be able to do some of the things I used to do, like hiking. Of course that includes being the weight I was 10 years ago. It's much easier to do things when your thin.
My second wish is for all my children and grandchildren to live long, happy, healthy lives and for me to see my grandchildren married and settled down. My parents got to see this with their grandchildren and they were so proud.
The third wish was originally going to be for a lot of money so my children and grandchildren didn't have to struggle. But I thought about it and my husband and I had to struggle all our lives just to make ends meet. I think that struggle helped make me who I am today. What kind of person would I be if everything had been handed to me. So instead instead of a lot of money, I'd like enough to be a little more than comfortable. I'd like to not watch how we spend every penny. It would be fun to be able to buy something for someone, and not have to give something else up. And oh, how I'd love to buy Christmas gifts. Fun things, things my children and grandchildren couldn't buy for themselves. And of course, I'd help make it easier for them. No reason they have to stuggle all the time, especially in this economy.
So those are my three wishes.

Lovely thoughts, Roseanne and thank you for stopping by. Roseanne is out of the very talented MuseItUp and MuseItHot stable of wonderful writers. Here is a little bit about her..

Roseanne Dowell is an avid reader and writes various types of romance - paranormal, contemporary, and mystery. She has several books published as well as over 40 articles and short stories published in magazines such as Good Old Days, Nostalgia, and Ohio Writer and several online publications. Besides teaching writing courses for Long Story School of Writing www.lsswritingschool.com ,she also taught two writing courses for the Encore Program at Cuyahoga Community College.

Roseanne lives in Northeast Ohio and where she enjoys life as a wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Besides writing, Roseanne enjoys embroidery and quilting, especially combining the two.

For a taste of just how wonderful a writer Roseanne is, here is a blurb and excerpt from her current release...




Blurb: Stranger on the Shore
It’s not every day you find a body washed up on your shore, but that’s exactly what happened to author, Jordan Blake, during an early Lake Effect snowstorm. So much for her quiet existence.
While she’s on her deck securing chair cushions and chairs, something along the rocky shoreline caught her eye. A body? Hard to tell from where she stood.
Not being one to ignore someone in need, she rushed across the yard. It was a body all right–a male’s body. Thank God he was alive, but unfortunately unconscious. After much pulling, rolling and pushing, Jordan manages to get him into her house. Finally inside, undressed and into something dry, she finds herself strangely attracted to the man.
More than a storm rages inside and out.


Excerpt from Strange on the Shore

“Darn, it’s getting cold.” Jordan shivered and zipped her sweat shirt. She hated storms, hated thunder and lightning most of all. Grabbing at some papers that flew across the deck as the wind picked up, a movement caught the corner of her eye. Something washed up on the shore. Something big. A body?
Jordan jumped off the deck and raced toward the craggy shoreline. Dark clouds hovered across the lake. Cold water splashed against her as waves crashed against the rocks like angry arms hurling water at an invisible enemy. The crash of thunder echoed across the lake. Ducking her head as lightening streaked across the sky and the air crackled with electricity, she thought she must be nuts. Probably just a bunch of old clothes washed up. Still, she had to see for herself.
Surely, no one in their right mind would be in the water this time of year? There had been storm warnings on the radio all morning. No one would be stupid enough to ignore the forecast. Would they? Heavy rain and strong winds then turning to snow, with a drastic drop in temperature, and blizzard-like conditions weren’t anything to ignore. Jordan winced as lightning flashed again, back-lighting the dark clouds. Darn it, she wanted to be inside cuddling by the fire not out here in a storm. For two cents, she’d turn around and go back. But something drew her forward.
A man’s body against the rocks.
Oh, Lord, please don’t let him be dead. She had planned for a quiet weekend, writing. A weekend with a corpse wasn’t on her list of quiet. But she couldn’t leave him out here either.
Jordan came closer and stooped down next to him. Lifting his head out of the water, above the crashing waves, she felt for a pulse. Thank God, he’s alive. Now how to get him out of here? She grabbed his arm, rolled him over and tried to pull him from the fury of the lake. Wave after wave pounced on him, their foamy peaks trying to reclaim him. Lord, if she ever needed help, now was the time. Struggling to roll him to higher ground, she lost her breath. His long, muscular frame outweighed her slender five foot two body and felt like dead weight.
“You’re going to have to help me.” Jordan grunted and gasped for breath when the full force of icy waves pulled her down and washed over both of them.
No response.
“Damn it. I can’t do this alone.”
Still no response.
Great, how was she going to pull him to safety? “I hate to do this, but I see no alternative.” Jordan took a deep breath and pushed him over, rolling him like a barrel and trying to avoid cutting him on the sharp rocks. It wasn’t easy, but at least he moved.
“Come on!” Jordan tried to encourage some life from his limp body. Once he was far enough away from the waves, she stared at him for a moment, before leaning down to give him mouth to mouth. His long straight nose, eyes set wide with bushy eyebrows and the grin on his lips, even in his unconscious state, sent a ripple of excitement through her body.
Not a handsome man, but something about him caused heat deep inside her. Shrugging off the urge to run her fingers through his curly black hair, she began mouth to mouth. When her mouth touched his lips, opened them slightly, something familiar tugged on her heart. She hadn’t touched a man's lips in, what, three years. This wasn’t exactly the way she imagined touching them again. Not that she ever imagined it. Never even thought about it. She’d had enough of men to last her a lifetime.

Roseanne's links
http://museituppublishing.com/musepub/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104&Itemid=82

http://roseanne-dowell.tripod.com/



http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com/


Tune in next week when the Muse's own 'Mermaid', Marsha Moore, slips into the hot seat.