I wasn’t planning on posting today, but I wanted to mention that I have a big weekend ahead of me.
I have TWO EVENTS – yes, count them – two events this weekend.
If you live in Michigan (or are willing to drive a little), this is the chance for me to meet you, to maybe buy a book, or get one signed! And you are in luck! One is on the western side of the state, and the other on the east! Have a friend who is an avid reader? Please bring them too. Both are free and open to the public.
Tonight I will be at the Barnes & Noble in Muskegon from 6pm-9pm with 49 other Michigan authors. Come and show some love to local authors!
Sunday afternoon I will be at the Commerce Township Library in Commerce Township with 30 other great local authors.
Pssst… I hear the first 50 guests will be able to grab a swag bag from some of today’s up and coming indie authors, including some signed items!
Saturday I will be at family game night. Sorry. That’s a private event. You can’t come. 😉
Here are the addresses for your GPS or Google Maps. Can’t wait to see ya & meet ya!
Trail of Michigan Authors Mega-50 Signing
Barnes and Noble
Friday, November 6, 2015
Lake Shore Marketplace
5275 Harvey Street
Muskegon MI 49444
Book signing
50 Michigan authors in attendance!
6:00pm-9:00pm
For the Love of Books Expo
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Commerce Township Community Library
2869 N Pontiac Trail
Commerce MI 48390
Book signing
Over 30 authors gathered at the Commerce Twp Library for one afternoon. Your chance to get their books AND get them signed! Admission is free to enter.
2:00pm-4:30pm
Follow the romantic entanglements of The Riley Sisters in my books: The Wind Could Blow a Bug – AVAILABLE NOW! When You Least Expect It – NEW RELEASE! Be Careful What You Wish For – COMING JANUARY 2016!
During the summer, my son became obsessed with Back to the Future Part III, because he loved the train at the end. In fact, usually he would only watch the end of the movie just to see the steam engine.
But in the months since, we showed him the other Back to the Future movies as well. He learned who Michael J. Fox was. My husband and I are not the only children of the 1980s that expose our children to the things we loved. My 4 3/4year-old son M’s BFF is heavily into Ghostbusters.
I must admit, I was a little sad that my son was in love with a 30 year-old movie. He would never be able to see the toys in the stores, or it talked about or advertised on television. Memes would be rarely seen on Facebook.
My son expressed interest in being either Marty McFly or Gizmo from Gremlins for Halloween. I gently ushered his taste toward McFly.
We took a trip up north to Mackinac Island. The first moment we walked onto the street, he saw some horses hitched up to a carriage. M pointed out that it looked like in Back to the Future III when Doc and Marty hooked up the DeLorean to horses to try to get it up to 88mph.
“Oh, I guarantee you that you will not see a DeLorean anywhere on this island. I bet you a million dollars right now that we won’t find one.”
I owe my son a million dollars. Not only did one of the stores on Main Street have ReAction figures by Funko, but also a Funko Pop DeLorean collectable.
Soon after we learned of the impending “Back to the Future Day”, October 21, 2015. It is the day that Marty McFly arrived in the future in Back to the Future Part II. It is the date furthest in the future within the movie franchise. (Now everything in the movies takes place in the past 😦 ) Having already assembled M’s costume for Halloween, I sent him to preschool that day in the most comfy aspects of it. And Back to the Future was ALL OVER television and social media that day. (Are you getting the “never say never” vibe yet?)
Ahead of Halloween, we also wanted to go to a trick or treating event that our local zoo holds, called Pumpkin Path. While his Marty outfit is so McFly, I just couldn’t help but think it would benefit from a DeLorean.
Marty McFly & his girlfriend Jennifer. Anyone even know what her last name is in the movie???
Sometimes, I get these ideas in my had that bang around and won’t go away until I create them. Sometimes it is a mix tape, sometimes a book or a blog post. This time it was an idea to build a DeLeroan treat bucket. It is based off the first DeLorean that Einstein tests, and Marty goes back to 1955 in. Don’t tell me it is missing Mr. Fusion, cuz it ain’t that version!
I will show you the process below. I had no plan from the Internet and no sketches, just the vision in my head. I picked a box that I believed when altered, would be roughly the right shape and size. Incidentally, it started off as a 11″ x 9 1/2″ x 5″ Hot Wheel shipping box. I had to cut down the width, and reattach one of the sides.
Other materials needed:
silver duct tape
black duct tape
black Sharpie marker
silver Sharpie marker
brass fasteners (the longer the prongs, the better)
scrap cardboard
something round for the trunk area (I used a 2 3/4″ Rubbermaid food storage lid)
I duct taped most of the interior first to make it water-resistant, as it tends to rain or snow in our neighborhood on Halloween.
Cut off one side of box, refolded to desired shape.
Interior taping, removed side about to be reattached.
Attach wheels with brass fasteners before entirely taping it together. It is easier that way. Handle lays nearby.
Fully-taped front
Fully-taped back. Note the circle, which is actually a Rubbermaid lid.
Handle attached with brass fasteners.
Finished side. The tire rims really give it a finished, slick look.
Finished front. Don’t forget the DMC logo!
Finished rear. I found some details were easier to draw than make.
NOTE: My treat bucket is designed for maximum cuteness and a little bit of ruggedness. It will not hold a typical 90 minutes of T-or-T loot. We are planning on taking an additional bag to move the overflow into.
I wanted to post this ahead of Halloween so that people could reference this post for costume and/or DeLorean ideas.
Marty without his coats on.
Follow the romantic entanglements of The Riley Sisters in my books: The Wind Could Blow a Bug – AVAILABLE NOW! When You Least Expect It – NEW RELEASE! Be Careful What You Wish For – COMING JANUARY 2016!
Attending the Great Lakes Book Bash a few weeks ago as an author signing at the event, it hit me how lucky I am to finally be doing what I should have been doing all along. Even if I never get past publishing three books (which I sure hope-to-shout I do, as more stories are in my head, pushing every day to get out), being able to produce something I am proud of and being able to semi-easily get it out in front of people is awesome! (Still working on how to get my books in front of the RIGHT people, but, all in good time, I guess…)
I feel like there are people along the way who were instrumental at me getting to this point, and they probably are not even aware of it. I feel like now might be the time to give them shout-outs. It wouldn’t be possible to do them justice in the back of a paperback on the flat page–I require links and multi-media.
I have already blogged about past teachers, such as dear Mrs. Raines who gave me my all-time favorite book way back in 2nd grade and dear Mr. Clark who put up with my crazy, even making me co-editor of the school newspaper when I never would have selected myself for such a job.
I feel like I should also mention my asbestos friend. We were writing buddies in 8th grade, and we still are now. (And I’m not sure my subject matter has changed all that much 😉 ) Extra kudos to her for being my beta reader. And apparently Linus to my Charlie Brown.
My best friend was fundamental to my development as well, although we enjoyed more art and drawing together than words. I don’t draw much anymore. But I love to do off-beat craft projects, such as Werecart creation and mystical giraffe repair. The skills I honed around her have now been funneled into logo, advertisement, and marketing materials.
Mixed media table display for The Riley Sisters series.
In college one day I was talking with the head of the English department. He realized I had taken a butt-ton of classes in his area. He asked me why I didn’t minor in English. I said I wasn’t really interested in any of the higher level classes, which I would need for it to be an official minor on my transcript and all that. He suggested I just take an independent study with him. A class where all I do is write whatever I want to? Awesome! Too bad the story I worked on that semester sucked. But it was nice for someone to have yet again directed me closer to something I was already interested in. It seemed like most of school was crap I would never use again. (Algebra, I am talking about YOU!)
I was never a big reader (don’t be so shocked). I was always in love with television and the stories it told and the visual and aural (get your mind out of the gutter) experiences it could offer. If I grew up in today’s bounty of technology, I would probably be making programs on YouTube now rather than books. After all, Radio and TV production is what my bachelor’s degree is in.
Somehow “bachelor’s degree” made me think of Bachelor Chow from Futurama.
Speaking of which, I guess I should thank Steve in the Communications department of my alma mater for giving me A’s, and the delusion that I could create my own Riley Sisters series book teaser trailer. Blame him. It was great fun to make though! Click on the link below.
I did have plans to become a writer. When I got my first big grown-up job, I even bought myself a Word Processor. (It was 1999. I didn’t know any better.) I sat in front of it, and realized writing was hard. So, I made a conscious decision to give up that dream… until years later when I would learn that I must write because I can’t not write.
I should thank the now-defunct Borders, for providing me with invaluable book industry knowledge that I learned through osmosis from all those in cubicles near me (or those who were in cubes further away and were just loud). I got to experience first hand the evolving business of books, and the dire consequences of falling behind. I began my current venture with more awareness about the industry than many do.
And thank you to my green-haired friend and my crazy friend, my co-workers along the way, who kept reminding me daily how much I loved to write. Whether it was a fresh-off-the-presses poem I wrote, one they composed, or just reciting song lyrics to one another, they were continuous reminders of how much the written word touches our lives every day. (If I could say that about Borders, they might still be in business.) Creativity, in any form, is essential to our lives on this planet.
I didn’t really read, and find out what I liked to read, until I got my own apartment in June of 1999… and had no television for a month. I read a lot of books in that time. And I fell in love with Gaia from the Fearless series by Francine Pascal. For more on them, click here: https://imnotstalkingyou.com/2012/03/14/fearless/ While all the books are not cohesive (and I don’t even think they are all penned by Ms. Pascal), they drew me in and kept me hooked. I have been primarily a YA fan ever since.
But I never imagined I could write one until I read a little book called Twilight that changed my life in a lot of ways. For more about my Love of Twilight, start with this post: https://imnotstalkingyou.com/2012/11/08/love-of-twilight-part-1-the-books/ Some people skewered it for not being a tome of high-brow literature. But that is not what it was ever intended to be. And that is exactly what I found accessible about it. It seemed like something my asbestos friend and I could have written. This opened my options back up to writing again, but I still wasn’t actually doing it more than in my dream journal. For more on the dream journaling, click here: https://imnotstalkingyou.com/2012/11/01/dreams-part-one-dream-journal/
I would never have a blog if it wasn’t for my former co-worker Dane. One day he mentioned that he had one, and I was fascinated. Anybody could get one of those? And FOR FREE? I pondered it for several weeks before I took the leap. What would I write about? Would I run out of things? The answer to the second question is apparently “no”, as it is now 4 1/2 years later. And the blog, well, that kept me writing until a big idea struck me, and then I had a book. And another. And another. And it is all Dane’s fault, because he had a blog and I wanted to copy him.* It is one of my fondest memories of him. That, and the time I was in a meeting sitting next to him and I felt my in utero son kick for the first time. That was just a coincidence, I think.
And thank you to my sister-in-law who, when I told her that I thought I might be writing a book after we had gone to a showing of the movie Safe Haven, didn’t laugh at me. She was one of the first people I told. That was The Wind Could Blow a Bug.
The Wind Could Blow a Bug by Jennifer Friess
Thank you to my dog Dave for letting me pet her furry long orange coat when the anxiety gets to be too much. She just senses when I need her. Except if she is sleeping really soundly–she is coming up on 13 years old, after all. She is never allowed to die. She knows this. I tell her every day.
Rub mah bellah!
Of course I have to thank my son and husband for putting up with my fits when the computer breaks or I cannot find something and my whole world seems to be falling apart. And a million other things that can’t all be listed here. I also thank my son M for not destroying a whole box inventory of my books… yet. (I feel like that day is coming.)
And to anyone else I may have forgotten– My head is stuffed full with fictional towns and characters. Sometimes that makes it hard to process life properly.
❤
*Note: This does not entitle Dane to any royalties from my burgeoning writing career.
Follow the romantic entanglements of The Riley Sisters in my books: The Wind Could Blow a Bug – AVAILABLE NOW! When You Least Expect It – NEW RELEASE! Be Careful What You Wish For – COMING JANUARY 2016!
I also repainted the area (landing?) at the top of my stairway that used to be a heinous beige pink and had been driving me crazy for years.
I was sooo happy with the changes I made. My only regret was not having done them earlier.
But, well, in this shuffle, items that used to be in about four rooms was moved into three. When all was said and done, my husband decided to turn the old nursery into a “man room.”
This left me with a bedroom upstairs filled with my hoarders delight of boxes of crafts and paperwork. What was the first thing I did in the room?
I made a secret hiding spot. Just for me. So that no one could find me. Not my son. Not my husband. Not even my dog.
I put up a three-paneled screen (that I have had for years and had no idea what to use it for) to block off the rest of the room that was still cluttered with boxes. It has a window for sunlight and fresh air, a mini alter with colorful stones and tarot cards, and a fairy garden. Best of all, it has a hidden corner with pillows to read or nap.
Secret hiding spot by the window
When I am really stressed (if I remember), I can run to my corner and just chill out for a few minutes. I actually have fallen asleep in there a few times.
My husband takes my secret hiding place as some sort of insult. But I pointed out that he heads out to the garage for house to tinker with stuff. That is his spot. I just wanted a little spot to myself. Just one problem with the secret hiding spot…
Secret hiding spot reading corner
There are toys left there that are not mine. The blanket will look as if a dog made a nest out of it. And when I am there, sometimes a man who looks suspiciously like my husband will come and assault me with real life.
The son found it. The husband found it. Even the dog found it.
I guess the best secrets are very hard to keep…
I heard the latest trend was “she sheds.” Hmmm… Maybe I will have to get me one of those.
Follow the romantic entanglements of The Riley Sisters in my books: The Wind Could Blow a Bug – AVAILABLE NOW! When You Least Expect It – NEW RELEASE!
Last weekend I went to the Kerrytown Bookfest for the very first time. It was the 13th year that the festival has been held.
Why was it my first time?
Because a year ago I didn’t even know that it existed. And while I don’t live in Ann Arbor where it is held, I did work there for many years for a big box bookstore, may it rest in peace.
Heck, I didn’t even know book festivals like this existed at all a year ago. Boy, do I still have a lot to learn go as a new author!
Anyway, I bought way too many items there and decided to show them off to you.
2015 Kerrytown Bookfest haul
I also got to chat with some of the coolest authors, such as Andy Lockwood, Kimberly J. Fuller, and Bethany Neal. I met author M.G. Buehrlen. Unfortunately, she was sold out of books by the time I got there (it must be really good). Instead, I purchased her calming essenital oil, appropriately named “Tiny Bottle of Calm: Let’s Calm the Eff Down, Ppl”. I am happy to try this oil in my never-ending search for something to help manage my anxiety. And a product you can use when you actually feel the anxiety as it begins to creep over your body? That seems very useful.
I'm not stalking you. 