Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Mel Gibson's Rants


Since my blog is titled EJ's Rants and Ramblings, I thought I'd sound off on the very public rants of Mel Gibson. Since every media outlet from Time Magazine to E.T. are weighing in, I didn't want to be left out.

Poor Mel, that's right I said Poor Mel, is getting chewed up in the media frenzy and I think it's unfair. First of all when people fight, especially ex-lovers, they can say mean and nasty things to one another. Usually these arguments are in private as these alleged arguments were. They were private until Oksana leaked them to the media. In the latest tape Mel accuses Oksana of being a golddigger and I think he's right. She probably did sign a paper where she gets none of his earnings so now she has to peddle these edited tapes for a paycheck.

Mel Gibson's ex-wife is coming forward to support him and still his sanity is being called into question. Who was Oksana before she met Mel? Exactly. Who better than an ex-lover to know what buttons to push to incite anger in a man, which is exactly what this golddigger is doing.

I hope that Mel gets through this latest scandal. He is a talented actor and director. Is he flawed? Yes, because he is human. We all are flawed in one way or another.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Who needs a Pulitzer when there's The Versatile Blogger Award?


As you know, I'm not an active blogger. Since I've been traveling a lot over the past few weeks (for work and for pleasure), I have been super neglectful. So neglectful in fact, I didn't realize until now that my writer friend (and rebel), Olivia Herrell, honored me with The Versatile Blogger Award.

What is this, you ask? It's a great way to boost someone's spirit and acknowledge the work they are doing. It is also a way for you to get to know a little bit more about me. Here are the rules (which I don't think are too difficult to follow):
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award. (*waves to Olivia*)
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who think you are fantastic for whatever reason! (In no particular order...)
4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

I am a technotard at blogging still, so might not link to blogs correctly. My apologies in advance...

Now onto to step #2 - Seven things about myself:

1) I was born at home.
2) I'm a cancer survivor.
3) I've lived in Philadelphia, Phoenix and now Portland.
4) If desperate enough, I would exchange a kidney for a Whoopie Pie (jk, but I do loves me a Whoopie Pie)!
5) My favorite book of all time is Little Women. Louisa May Alcott and her MC, Jo March, planted the writer seed before I even knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.
6) I love being a stepmom.
7) My first concert was Def Leppard and my dad chaperoned. He rocks!

Now on to step #3...here are 15 bloggers who are definitely worth mentioning and following. There have been many slow days at the office where their entries warded off certain death by boredom.

1) Charity Bradford, My Writing Journey
2) Natalie Murphy, The Sound of Rain
3) Roland D. Yeomans, Writing In The Crosshairs
4) Rhonda Cowsert, Snarktastic Ramblings
5) VR Barkowski
6) Eric W. Trant, Digging With the Worms
7) Mia Hayson, Literary Jam and Toast
8) Betty Blue, 37.2 Degrees in the Morning
9) Kelly R. Morgan, Distracted by the Internet
10) Courtney Reese at Critique This WIP
11) Loretta8, Mega-Toad Productions presents...
12) JA Souders, Angels and Demons and Portals. Oh My!
13) Anne Riley
14) Donna Hole
15) Eisley Jacobs, Eisley's Ellipses

Whew, this took longer than I thought, but was worth it! Receiving the award lifted my spirits and I hope to pay it forward.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Missing Followers

I checked my blog today and noticed I lost a follower. Most Facebook friends know me or know a member of my family, so they know I'm liberal and not afraid to speak my mind. Most of the time when they drop it's because Facebook isn't for them or their profile got compromised. Twitter drop offs can be attributed to Twitter bots.

My blog has very few followers so a loss of just one is noticeable. Now I'm left to wonder...was it something I said? Maybe I'm not posting enough? Are my blog posts not useful or entertaining? Maybe my posts are just so horrible that this person felt dumber for reading one? Who knows, but an explanation would have been nice.

I'm new at this whole blogging thang and any feedback or criticism is welcome. Since I'm an aspiring writer I don't feel I'm in the right position to offer advice to other writers. Occasionally I'll rant about a topic unrelated to writing, but mostly I use the blog to post scenes from WIP's as a way to receive input from readers outside of my critique group.

For those followers that have been blogging a lot longer than me, any insight you can offer will be greatly appreciated. To my followers, thank you for sticking with me! :)

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Short Story in Progress

I'm working on a short story and using this to stretch my comfort zone a bit. I normally don't write paranormal and thought I'd give it a try. The story is from the P.O.V of a demon. Walking around in a demon's shoes has made me write some pretty disturbing sequences, but it's been a thrilling process. Forcing myself to pull from the darkness (which I think exists in all of us, yet most of us choose to keep buried) is proving to be a challenging, yet beneficial exercise.

Here are the first few (still to be edited) paragraphs:

I hover above, watching my masterpiece unfold. Flashing lights from two dozen or so emergency vehicles cover the town square in a frenetic blue and red pattern. News reporters crowd around the front of the school, lying in wait for a glimpse of the macabre. Stretcher upon stretcher are wheeled out, full black body bags their cargo. The massacre occurred as school was letting out for the day. Now it’s close to midnight and the mess is far from being cleaned up.

Grief, anger, guilt and blame build in the air and swirl around me. I breathe it all in.

As the night wears on, the crowd dissipates. I grow tired of watching. My work here is done. Another town on the horizon is begging for disaster.

In my free form I’m a mist. If people catch a glimpse of me it’s fleeting; a shadow or dark cloud passing over the sun. I can still move objects in my natural state, cause goose bumps to ripple across skin, but when I find a body to manipulate, that’s when the fun really begins.

Humans make perfect puppets. They’re so malleable, emotional and weak.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Dream Blogfest

Thank you Amalia http://hellia.blogspot.com/ for hosting the Dream blogfest! This dream sequence is from The Beautiful People, which has been the manuscript I've used for all other blogfests. I kind of feel bad for Natalie (my MC) as I haven't been very nice to her. She's a tough girl though and can handle it...

Soon I relaxed enough and began to doze in the tub. Sleep might come tonight after all, I thought as I dried off. I crawled into the king sized bed, which seemed enormous and empty without Dominic and fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

The dream started out nice. I was swimming in the ocean, the sun high above and reflecting bright white off of the sand. I floated weightless in the water and bobbed with the gentle lapping waves. Dominic and Grant were on the shore waving at me. I waved back and dove under the surface. When I came up for air the atmosphere had changed. Dark, stormy clouds boiled in the sky and the water had become choppy. Alarmed I looked for Dominic and Grant on the beach. They were gone. Something bumped into my back and moved away then collided with me again. I spun around and screamed. A body floating face down in the sea moved with the surf. Panic set in and I started to swim toward the shoreline. When I turned, a different body blocked my path. Then I noticed the water was blood red and corpses floated on the top of the ocean, in every direction as far as I could see. I opened my mouth to scream again and nothing happened, the air around me was void of sound, muted.

I woke in a cold sweat and with a pounding heart. I reflexively reached for Dominic, but he was gone. Disoriented, I panicked, still caught between my nightmare and reality. Finally the surroundings of our bedroom became familiar and I remembered where Dominic was. My head ached and I had cottonmouth, the beginning of a hangover starting to set in. I rolled over and stared at the closed bedroom door. I wanted the comfort of my mom. On her good days she would make the nightmares disappear so I could fall back asleep. This time I couldn’t tell her the source of my terrors. The boogieman wasn’t in my closet and there wasn’t a monster under the bed, the horrors in my dreams were real.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Getting Published

Thursday morning I checked my email and the very top message was from the Editor-In-Chief of Suspense Magazine notifying me that a flash fiction piece I submitted had been accepted and will be in the June issue. I squealed, jumped up and down, slapped the door frame of the bathroom and almost caused my husband to fall in the shower. Screw coffee, all I need is an email like that one every morning and I am good to go!

Seeing my name in the table of contents and seeing my story laid out with all the fancy font treatments on the pages of the magazine was and still is such a thrill. This acceptance is a stepping stone to greater things. I love writing and maybe, just maybe, writing loves me too.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Bad Girl Blogfest

This is another scene from The Beautiful People, which is the MS I've used for all previous blogfests. Hope you like!

“Hi beautiful!” Dominic called to me. I made my way over to his bar and he met me halfway. “I missed you.” He hugged me and we kissed before he stepped back and reached into his pocket.

“I got you something to make up for last night.” He pulled out a small present, wrapped in silver paper and handed it to me.

“What did you get?”

“Open it and find out.” His eyes sparkled.

I ripped the wrapping paper off before he even finished. I opened the cream colored box and gasped. Inside a diamond solitaire stud gleamed on a cushion of white satin.

“Dominic! You shouldn’t have!”

“It’s a navel ring.”

“Is it a real diamond?”

“Of course it is, nothing but the best for my girl.”

“Thank you.” I fell against him, wrapping my arms around his waist. His lips grazed the top of my head.

I squeezed him once more before I reached for his hand and pulled him with me into a dark alcove.

“What are you doing?”

I lifted up my shirt to reveal the silver bar in my bellybutton. “Do you want to put it on?”

Dominic’s Adam’s Apple bobbed when he swallowed hard. Licking his lips, he knelt down in front of me. His fingers brushed against my stomach, tickling me and causing me to giggle.

“Hold still.” Dominic said, grabbing my hips.

Biting my lip, I kept the laughter in check while he finished. Suddenly I felt his hands move up underneath my skirt. Cupping my ass, he pulled me towards him covering my belly with soft kisses. Groaning, he released me and stood up.

“You have no idea what you do to me woman, that was the sexiest thing ever.”

“Looks good,” I said, studying my new naval ring.

“Looks better than good, I’m going to cover you in diamonds.”

“Dom, no, I’m not worth it.” His eyes grew dark when I said this, resembling Tony’s glare. Shocked, I took a step back.

“Yes you are, every diamond in the world doesn’t add up to your worth.” His eyes softened and he pulled me into his chest. Tears welled up and breathing in the spice of his cologne helped calm the swell of emotion, allowing me to savor the moment.

“Ew. Get a room!” A voice said from behind us. I jerked my head up and saw Brittany. Her normally pretty face was twisted into a sneer.

“Fuck off Brit,” Dominic said. She shot him an evil look before stalking off towards the employee lounge.

“What is her problem?”

“She’s used to getting what she wants. God help the world if she doesn’t. You know what? Keep your stuff in Miranda’s office. You don’t have to use the lounge anymore.”

“Dom, I can handle Brittany. She’ll just have to learn how to deal. I’m not afraid of her.” I wasn’t the tallest of girls and still towered over Brittany. What was the tiny blonde going to do anyway?

“Just watch your back.”

“Yes, dear.” I gave him a quick kiss and left to get ready for work.

Brittany glared at me when I entered the lounge. The heavy, dark liner around her startling blue eyes made her look meaner. Ignoring her, I went to an open locker to hang up my jacket and purse.

“Slut.”

“What did you say?” I asked, whipping around to face her.

“You heard me. I called you a slut.”

“You’re just jealous.” I slammed the locker door shut.

“It’s so obvious what you’re doing. Throwing yourself at the owner’s nephew,” she spat.

“Brittany, you’re being fucking ridiculous. Dominic doesn’t want you. Get over it!”

“He’s just using you.”

I closed my eyes, willing her to go away. Rubbing my belly I felt the navel ring and smiled.

“Let me ask you something Brittany?” I said in the sweetest voice I could muster. “Did Dominic ever give you diamonds or did he just fuck you in the back seat like a cheap whore?”

I thought I saw her blanch before she charged at me, squealing like a pig in heat. “YOU BITCH!”

Joey D. stepped into the lounge to see Brittany barreling towards me. His eyes widened and he ran after her. Just before Brittany could take a swipe at me, he yanked her back. She struggled against him, kicking and screaming. Poor Joey looked like he was wrestling an alligator. The veins on his muscular arms bulged and the chords on his thick neck stood out.

Everyone heard the commotion and came pouring in to the lounge. Dominic ran in and stood beside me. His arm wrapped protectively around my waist, setting Brittany off even more.

“What makes her so special Dominic?” Brittany yelled. Her face almost matched her red lipstick.

“Brittany, you need to stop.” Dominic turned us to leave, but the doorway was blocked. Grant and Miranda had arrived. They rushed over to me.

“Oh, I get it you’re all one big happy fucking family now!” Brittany’s rage hadn’t ebbed and Joey was still struggling to contain her. “She’s not one of us. I don’t even know why that bitch works here!”

Those words stung as if Brittany had physically slapped me. I wasn’t a Crimson girl and I hadn’t really felt like I had fit in since my first day.

“Shut up!” Grant bellowed. “Joey, get her out of here.”

“Go home Brittany. You’re not working tonight,” Miranda said. The crowd parted and let Joey through.