A New Addiction

I'm addicted to chocolate.
And I'm addicted to Coca Cola.
Hell, I've even been addicted to love. 

But lately, it's something else.  Something new.  It's...it's...PicMonkey.

Yes, you read that right, PicMonkey.  What is that, you ask?  It's a photo-editing site that not only allows you to edit your photos, but it's a GREAT place for spazzy people like me to create promos for books and collages and that sort of thing.  It's crazy!  I'm seriously addicted to it.

So what do I do with it?  Well, here are just a few of the things I've done lately:

Pretty, right?  So bold.  So colorful!  So. Stinking. Cute!!

I got a little more creative with this one.  I inserted the picture and the text on the note pad.  And believe me when I tell you, I cannot figure out things like Photoshop.

Not a great one, but I had to try.  And that's the thing...they're not all masterpieces but to me - because I'm normally so clueless with things like this - this is awesome!!

I'm almost giddy at this point and doing victory laps around my desk!

Last one.  I promise.

So there is hope - people like me who are scared of the computer!  You can do it!  It can be done!!  Don't get me wrong, when the graphics department with my publisher wants to do some work for me, I am certainly NOT going to say no.  But in the mean time, I am having a blast!!

Any favorites??

Observations of a Writer...

In my mind, I've been a writer my entire life.  Well, maybe not my ENTIRE life, but pretty darn close.  The reality is that I've been recognized as a writer only within the last four years.  Since that time, I've witnessed a lot of weird, unusual and sometimes offensive behavior from people around me - and only some of it have I used in a book!

Here's just my top ten:

- Everyone you know or are related to will automatically assume that someone in your book is them.  This happens particularly when the character is heinous in some way.  And they won't come right out and ask me, but they'll speculate amongst themselves until someone just comes out and asks.

- Everyone is suddenly an aspiring author.  Only they don't want to actually write.  They have ideas.  Oh, boy, do they have ideas.  They just want to tell them to me and have me write them down and make them into something.

- Most people who are supposed to love you, will not buy your book.  They want it for free or they find excuses not to buy them.

- They won't write reviews either.

- And the ones who are SUPER excited for you and tell you they love you 47 times a day start to creep you out with their affection.  And believe it or not, sometimes they just want to actually BE you.  Trust me.  It's happened.

 - I honestly don't talk about my books to my family or friends while I'm writing them.  And to be fair, hardly anyone asks.  All I say is "I'm working on a book" and they're like, "Okay". 

- It's super cool when readers love your characters as much as you do.

- My husband still smirks (and occasionally chuckle) when he reads the blurbs or the tag lines on any and all of my books.  Such a boy!

- Some of the most generous people who encourage and support me are people I've never met.

-  Everyone - and I mean everyone - thinks that they are an editor.  And I don't mean that in a good way.