A little late, but here it is

So, Angela got me the Durmstrang Lego set for my birthday and she wanted pics of me making it!! It was fun to do too!! If only I had a fireplace I could put it on or something.

Anyway, here's my progress... I did it the next day I think:

Snow Fun

Yay :)- One good thing came out of the snow storm.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

I guess you can say I'm finally a "published" author! It's just time to be a PAID author

Jeana's Copy Angela's Copy Julie's Copy

Sorry about the quality... It has a glossy cover so when I use flash it covers half of it in white streaks :(

That and I suck at taking pictures... my hands move too much.

So the great thing about the books is that they're size 14 font. So... they look like kids books. However! They are DEFINITELY NOT kids stories. You will corrupt your children with it. Wait until they are at least.... 17 and I can no longer be to blame for the corruption:)

OO!! OO!!

I started writing my second book!! So far, if I keep it in this order.... whoa! It's definitely steamy! It's on the edge of young adult and adult... Not romance... although I really could have gotten carried away.

But my characters aren't ready for that. I'm ready to write it, but they aren't ready to do it.

I think I'm finally able to understand how some writers say their characters talk to them. Because mine were definitely telling me to stop. Well, one of them. They wanted me to stop while the other didn't ;)-

UMMM

I am not made of stone. And if I were, I'd still be breakable. Don't make me drive in the snow for your ungrateful thing!

Norah and the Kitties

Craig's Grandma (Norah) cannot for the life of her remember any of the cat's names.

Norah: Hey kitty, are you Sunshine?

Gwen (Craig's mom): no, that's Buggs.

Norah: Huh? Sunshine?

Gwen: No, it's Buggs mother.

Norah: Oh, this one's Sunshine then, alright.

Gwen: No, listen to me, her name is Buggs!

Norah: Ohhh, Buggs. Okay, this one likes to sleep with me doesn't it?

Gwen: No, Sunshine likes to sleep with you!

Norah: Yeah, this one visits me all the time

Gwen: No mother, Sunshine is the one that visits you.

Norah: Oh okay.

Five minutes later...

Norah: Hey Kitty, are you Sunshine?

.... nope.. still Buggs...

Craig said that one day she made up a poem and said it ALL day:

"Hey kitty, where's your sister?

The black one kissed her."

Yup.. it rhymed so she thought it was the coolest thing.

(black one is mine and Craig's... or as Norah puts it: The scary cat from the pound... -- Rogue never goes around Norah... Rogue doesn't like her because she's too shy.)

Oh Boy

I wish I was in high school

Remember the days when you were sick and you could just stay home with your mom calling in to excuse you? 

Yeah, I miss those days...

On Monday, I walked into the bathroom at around 3:45pm and stood next to someone recovering from some kind of cold or flu for about... 30 seconds... by 5:00 I started getting sore and my head started hurting and I felt... exhausted.

By that night... I was nauseous, had a nose full of crap and I was sore all over. If you know anything about me you should know this (okay, there's two things...): I'm afraid of pain and I don't do well when it's inflicted on me or on Craig. AND I can't do stomach aches.... I have a complex against puking, so all my energy and mindset goes towards not puking...

So.. Tuesday was worse because I was still nauseous and sore and I wanted to punch a baby... don't judge.. and the worst part was that I couldn't finish my book. So I had to format everything for my book completely unfinished... but... the good thing is, is that it's only going to 3 people, and they're not the possible agents.

Wednesday had more soreness and sniffles and crap in store for me. Craig had to drive me to work again because of the nasty snow and ice. We went to Office Depot to get my book printed and they didn't have the font I've been using... so I had to take it home, redo it and email it back in with my instructions... I hope it works... b/c it sounds expensive.... 

Today!! I have a sore throat that is also itchy.  I'm coughing, I'm blowing my nose, I'm spitting up mucous, I have a hurt tummy, a headache, and a full head of crap... :(

And I think that my old boss is sabotaging me... No one has called... not anyone for a part time easy job...

Underpants

So, I'm on chapter 9 out of 26 total chapters on my 2ND rewrite. It's so weird though, I've began this weird habit of getting sleepy when I'm reading. It's not just my book (I'd be worried), it's any of them. The one's I love, hate, both... I just can't seem to stay awake for too long after I start reading. Weird, I know..

Anyway, I went to the bookstore and I got soooo many books!! :)-. And the main reason why I got so many was because I wanted to use my gift cards. Well guess what... paid for it all by my credit card instead. So, I will need to go back to the bookstore again!! And no, I didn't plan that, but then again, I didn't fight to hard with my conscience to go back inside and use my gift cards.

Oh well :)

Me Bookie

KK... Starting putting together my Query letter to send with my manuscript to agents! Here's hoping!

Bad Amber

So, while I was doing my rewrite, I noticed a lot of spelling errors. Here are the good ones:

blue... meant: blew

rapped... meant: wrapped

rince... meant: rinse

roal... meant: roll

four... meant: for

breath... meant: breathe

nevermind... meant: never mind

comma... meant: coma

effected... meant: affected

a lot of making two words out of one:

mini skirt

half way

hand cuffs

half heartedly

child hood

night mares

Another Monumental Moment for Me!

I'd like it known by everyone who follows my blog, at 11:52 p.m. on Wednesday night, I finished my first rewrite of my book!!!!!

I loved it... loved the beginning... I have to do a few things to the middle and end... kind of tie a few things up... but otherwise... I'd like to let you know I think I'm a genius right now :)

Yay!!!

**70,000**

Woot Woot!

I reached 70,000 words on my book! 30,000 more to go for it to be the length I want... which should be no problem. Already, I changed what used to be chapter 10 to chapter 14.

And in case you're wondering, word # 70,001.. or at least what I added to get to that number, is "smell"... 

OOOhh just gave away the plot! ;)

My Birthday madness

Silly me

So I was reading through my book (for the millionth time) just sort of getting back into how my character thinks (which is really close to how I think sometimes)... and I came across these two sentences... they just made me laugh...

It's feisty meets sweet in 29 words... and I enjoyed it. So here's a snippet of my book... 2 sentences!! yay!!! dont' say I never gave you nothing! and you can decide if you like it or not.

"I loved it when he called me by my nickname even in moments such as these, where I want to rip his head off. It makes me feel special."

Awesome right??

That's all for right now!

I need some ideas

So, Julie and I are going to try to win a free ARC for the third book in one of our favorite series. And yes, I do mean ONE of our favorites.

We have to draw a picture/make a film/fanworks/or take a picture of either of the first two books in a weird location.

I would love to do all of the four, but the reality of it, is that I can't draw, I don't have a video camera, I don't know where to begin to make fan stuff.. I guess I can be creative..

But Julie and I want to take a shot at the picture option....

The book is the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Claire (City of Bones, City of Ashes, and soon to be City of Glass)

What ideas do you have?

And the Beat Goes On

Life as Amber has been better. I keep thinking of ways to succeed, and trying the options out there. But time after time, I'm rejected because I'm "not good enough".

But because I have a self destructive mind set, I'm constantly trying. Trying to work, trying to find better work, trying to write, trying to write better, and trying to get ahead. I don't

 understand how some people are just THAT good at having life easy. Or at least, easier.

I wish I had a way to go to college and not have to work. Or have someone else bring in all the money, so I can make an honest attempt at writing and making a semi-okay living. Hell, I'd rather make the same amount I make now, and write. I could make $200 less and still write. I like it tons better.

And that's where the problem lays. There isn't that opportunity to stay at home, or write for $200 less or equal to current pay. There isn't the option for me going to school while I'z Gotz Billz To Pay, and my financial stability is far more important to me than my education is. At least until I can find a way to do it.

I have excellent credit and it's taken a lot of careful work to get there. I don't miss payments, I send my payments before they're do so they aren't even late. I even send more than what's due. EVERY TIME. And I'm an awesome spender. You have to spend money to pay it back and earn the credit. Good credit is still better than no credit. And I know that Excellent is better than good.

Anyway, I'm exhausted, it's 11:30 p.m. and although I don't have 

to go to my paying job, I am doing a lot of work on my non-paying-but-hopefully-will-give-me-money-soon job. Which is going good by the way. I'm a little behind schedule, but considering the amount of content I've added, I say it's pretty good. I can't wait to read through it like it's another author's story. But that's hard. Because I can't seem to finish finding ways to fix things or make them better.

Alrighty Mighty Tighty Whitey... G-night, and sleep tight, and don't forget my birthday is in two days.. almost... :)-

60,000 Words

No, that doesn't mean that what I write here is 60,000 words. I'm excited because I just looked at my word count and it says 60, 049!!!!

I'm over half-way there!!! At least for a 300 page book. And I like it. I was afraid that if I tried to add things just to make it longer, it wouldn't make sense anymore. But, it makes more sense with more there.

I have a lot of touching up to do, I'm only on #7 or what used to be chapter 4 (yes, I've added 3 chapters already) and I have 17 + more to go. Woot Woot!!!

Sleep-living

So, I don't know if you've ever done this, but I think I've been sleep-living.

Sleep-walking/sleep-driving/sleep-working. It feels like the only time I'm not sleeping, is when I NEED to!

I was at work today and there were more than a few times I would hear someone talking in my ear about their account or their bill.

Needless to say, even though it's my job, I was very confused. I didn't remember answering the phone. So I start freaking out... How did I answer the phone? Did I say Hello? or thanks for choosing ..., my name is Amber, how may I  help you?

How long have they been talking?

Horrible, I know. I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been like this for a while. It started with walking. I'd wake up in a different spot than I thought I would be. Then it progressively got worse to sleep-driving. I got to work and I didn't remember the drive. I think that's the scariest one because it's not auto-pilot... it's spacing out for a 30 minute drive on 2 different freeways at 60+ miles an hour.

And now, it's worse in it's own way. I sleep-work. That could not just kill me, but get me fired from my job and have to live with the consequences. Which, that could be worse than you think... And definitely worse than death itself.

Death is final. There's no picking up the pieces when you're done dying, or living through the hell we call jobless life. I mean, it'd be awesome to not give 10 hours a day to people who think they're better than the world around them, but to put my raw potential towards something I love. My writing.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOk!!

Hey Everyone,

I know it's been a while since I've talked about the progress on my book. Sorry about that. I've been slowly working on adding more and more to my manuscript (look at me, using writing words I learned!) and I've been doing pretty good.

I've added 2 whole new chapters and I'm in the middle of revising one completely. I really like the direction it's heading with these two new chapters. I was a little hesitant because it seemed like it revealed something too soon, but hey, it ends up working and making more sense later.

I'm predicting that I'll add at least 3 more chapters and maybe 2-4 more pages on each chapter already written. I know some of you like to have small chapters so you can have someplace easy to stop at. But I'm hoping you won't want to stop anyway. Here's to hoping.

I'm still shooting for my Christmas deadline, and I'll let you know how that goes. Right now, I'm in a small block, so I thought I'd attempt to write other things instead, to get me back in motion, hence, this blog. I usually try to do something regarding the book when I get into the block so I can roll right into it again, but I don't need anything researched. I already have my fonts pretty much picked. I have a temporary cover that won't run into any problems for printing if I want to print off a cover for my records.

Anyway, I'm excited to see the Twilight movie with Julie/Brian/Jonathan on Sunday! We'll see how I like it! I'm going in to expect just another item to put towards the collection. It'll probably be nothing like the book, they rarely are, and I'll probably love it anyway.

I went to the Miss Auburn practice last Sunday, and I plan to go again this Sunday, and let me tell you... I was interviewing the contestants this year, and wow, that was fun! They actually took my advice! I'm no expert in interviews, believe you me, but I know I'm good at it (My first year's candlelight award was in interview and the interview coach said I was excellent at it).

I liked being there without all the stress to endure. And thank goodness I don't have to do talent!! I am absolutely horrible at everything that would be considered a stage talent!

I pitched on offer to them to be the writer for them, and Kathy (my friend, Ladies Advisor, Mayor's wife) said the President of the program liked the idea and she was supposed to get in touch with me, but she hasn't. I'm hoping if she's at the next practice this Sunday, I can have a sample for her if she asks! It's all in the name of writing and trying to get published. I need more publishing credit. The more you have, the more likely you are to getting published. 

It reminds me of credit cards. You can't get a credit card without good credit. Well, the same applies in writing. You can't get published without publishing history. oy.

Anyway, I think I'll attack my book again!

Later Gators.

I'm feeling Ambitious

Here's a list of funny quotes I've pulled together  from various websites :)

Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.

The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on. - Robert Bloch

Men are like parking spots, the good ones are taken and the free ones are handicapped.

I told my wife that a husband is like a fine wine; he gets better with age. The next day, she locked me in the cellar.

The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think.

I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry. That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste. 
-- David Bissonnette

I've been in love with the same woman for forty-one years. If my wife finds out, she'll kill me. 
-- Henry Youngman

In my sentences I go where no man has gone before...I am a boon to the English language. 
-- George W. Bush

People tell me that Senator Edwards got picked for his good looks, his sex appeal, and his great hair. I say to them, 'How do you think I got the job? 
-- Dick Cheney

I frankly felt like the reception we received on the way in from the airport was very warm and hospitable. And I want to thank the Canadian people who came out to wave -- with all five fingers -- for their hospitality. 
-- George W. Bush

I can resist everything except temptation.  -- Oscar Wilde

 I once spent a year in Philadelphia, I think it was on a Sunday. 
-- W.C. Fields

For the female of the species is more deadly than the male. 
-- Rudyard Kipling

And that Concludes the presentation :)

Some AwEsOmE Inventions...

For the lonely nights:

For the bratty-selfish kid who always leaves messes, but never cleans them:

For those shoes you don't want ruined

For the late night or early morning traveler:

For the expensive suits, or frizzy-when-wet hair:

For the person that can't blow on thier own soup:

For the nodd-offer:

For the... gross:

For the not enough pockets:

aaahhhh, the beauty of crazy people ;). This came from work too... I don't know who puts these things together, but I hope they keep doing it.

If I got a tattoo...

it would look like this:

which stands for this:

which is also this:

which is the greatest metal band in the universe! don't hate.

It would be a cute/small thing, kinda ;) and in a place you'd be embarrassed to find it ;o.... jk, shoulder/arm/ankle/foot/face, either one really

Thoughts to Ponder...

Why is it that Country singers keep their accent in their singing voices when the accents usually disappear when you sing?

How do you know when you fall asleep?

Jonathan Andersen-Slagle (Anders ;))

Why don't vampires ever pee?

Amber Andersen-Slagle (me)

This is an email I received at work: 

If you ever feel a little bit stupid, just dig this up and read it again; you'll begin to think you're a genius. 


(On September 17, 1994, Alabama's Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America 1995.) 

Question: If you could live forever, would you and why? 
Answer: 'I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever,' 
-- Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest . 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 


'Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff.' 
--Mariah Carey 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 


'Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life.' 
-- Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign. 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 



'I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body.' 
-- Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball f orward. 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 



'Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.' < /FONT>
--Mayor Marion Barry, Washington , DC
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 


'That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it.' 
--A congressional candidate in Texas 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 


'Half this game is ninety percent mental.' 
--Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 



'It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.' 
--Al Gore, Vice President 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 



'I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix ' 
-- Dan Quayle while campaigning
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 


'We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?' 
--Lee Iacocca 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 



'The word 'genius' isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.' 
--Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst. 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 



'We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people.' 
-- Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instrutor . 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 



'Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.'
--Department of Social Services, Greenville , South Carolina 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 

'Traditionally, most of Australia 's imports come from overseas.' 
--Keppel Enderbery 
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record.

Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

Forks Visit in May 2008

So, this is what's on the forks Web Page... :) I look like a dork... and they spelt my name wrong.. thank goodness ;)

Jonathan meant to look like a dork. So I followed his lead :)-

May 24, 2008 Auber from Auburn, Washington May 24, 2008 Jonathan from Auburn, Washington May 24, 2008 Brian & Julie from Gig Harbor

Next In Line for Presidency

So, I've been thinking. Now that we are going to have our first black president... does that mean that we're going female next? Or gay?

I mean, think about it... do you think there'd be the "don't ask, don't tell rule?" .... you'd hear things like, "Well, the president is gay, why can't I be?"

I'm thinking if we went for a gay woman, we can just kill 2 birds with one stone. Knock all the shockers out of the way so we can get back to having middle aged and sexually repressed old white men.

Kidding. I still want Paris for president :) She'd look hot at least.

There's absolutely nothing to do today

I'm stuck in a rut I think. Today is just a wasted day and I don't know how to change it. Yesterday (after work and pho lunner (lunch & dinner) with Craig) was about the same as today. However, Craig toughed it out and went with me to the mall and the book store to buy.... NOTHING.

That's right, I didn't buy a single book, a single piece of clothing (even though I was tempted on multiple occasions). We even went to two book

stores! I almost bought The Luxe and Gone, but Craig couldn't find the

book he wanted so I thought it would be boring for him to stand in line and wait for me to get yet another book.

So, after that boring time out last night I guess it was only fitting for today to be full of nothing. We are so bored that this morning we watched 27 Dresses... a chick flick. If you knew me well enough, you'd know that I don't watch chick flicks--well besides ones with Julia Roberts of course. And neither does Craig. But we sat through the EntIrE film. I didn't do anything else but watch.

That's another sign of boredom. I'm always doing

multiple things at once. For example, right now, I'm writing this blog, listening to music, and researching butterfly mythology (you'll understand the last thing later). I actually sat down, watched the move, and didn't write/read/play with anything else. Craig was shocked at least.

I guess I have worked on my book some too in the past couple of days. I have 50,000 more words to get in and I'm trying to get it done before Christmas. I'm on a good track right now with it, and I hope I can keep it up. One thing that I was thinking while I was showering (more proof of doing multiple things at once) was how cool it would be if my book was good.

I know, that sounds funny. But I was thinking... what if (and bear with me please) my book is so good that it gets reviews like... "It's the next Twilight" or "I haven't read anything this good since Twilight". Because one, Twilight fans are crazy, so I'd love crazy fans. And two, Harry Potter was a big thing, Twilight was compared (more off of the fan base and popularity than the storyline and all) to Harry Potter with things like "It's the next Harry Potter" or "I haven't read anything this good since Harry Potter"

So, I'm working really hard on trying to make it good, and not boring. Developing the characters with each edit session is thrilling. They're fake people, not based on anyone, so it's like finding a new best friend or boyfriend and learning what their life is about. Now I'm not looking for a new boyfriend, but you get what I mean.

I want so badly for this to be done so everyone can read it (and like it) and buy it and recommend it and obsess over it.

Anyway, I mainly did this blog because Jason thought he was getting jipped out of blogs because I hadn't given him anything since 11/4. I haven't written anything since then because I've been surprisingly busy, except for today, and last night.