Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Starbucks Reviews Coming Soon

Everyone has an addiction and mine is coffee . . . well, lattes. And I am going to start posting reviews on Starbucks drinks, foods etc: since I visit them every single week and try almost everything new. Stay tuned.

Friday, October 7, 2016

Twitter's #DVpit

Amazing agent Beth Phelan from The Bent Agency created a new event on Twitter about a year or two ago named: #DVpit. Its main focus is to aim for diverse authors with their own voices to pitch  diverse books. The publishing industry is in a desperate need for change and I am all for it. Agents are all for it, and even successful authors have shown their support.

Friday, September 9, 2016

Great News!

Yesterday was perfect. No seriously, I know nothing is perfect, but yesterday was indeed perfect. I was on my way to Twitter to participate in the #PitMad event and right before heading there, I decided to check my email and boy was I surprised. Like super surprised. Read on!

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Starting a New Novel

So, I am starting a new novel. This will actually be novel number three, and I couldn't be more excited. Most of my stories come from visions, in dreams, at the park, etc. They just hit me, like the first time you had a crush on a boy or a girl, or like the time you tried the best pizza ever, or the love you get when you found an amazing TV show, movie, and all that sweet jazz.

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Hold's Head Down in Shame

Remember that confession about querying from the other day? Well, two things, an agent sparked interest right afterwards, but she wasn't passionate enough to take it on. And two, the submission guidelines: yes, I messed up on them. A lot of them and boy am I shamed.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

The Querying Process

Sighs. Well, I am in the middle of querying and it sucks. So far I've written two novels. One about witches, my baby, and the other about a girl who lost her parents and has to go live in a world of magic with her estranged aunt. And yet--none of these have been picked up. I'd be lying if I say I didn't have a dream agent, I do, and she's denied to work with me twice. I didn't even get a no, she just never responded. Bummer.

Monday, July 18, 2016

We Are Moving!

Sorry I haven't been here in a while. Life happened, people happened, and my move is happening. We are moving. We've been living here at our current apartment for over ten years and its time. Time to move on, time to take control of our lives and time for something new. It's going to be more expensive, that I have to admit. But where we live at now is entirely dangerous. It's gotten worse over the years and I tried giving this place an additional year and regretted that decision ever since. Out neighborhood is some shit.

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Has Job Hunting Become Too Much Paperwork?

When my dad got out of an unfortunate situation, he went out job hunting. At first, he didn't talk about it much, he just said he applied where he could and kept it moving. Well, after several week's of him still asking us for money and all of us noticing that he didn't find a job yet--the truth finally came out.

He said, and I quote: Too much paperwork!

I thought he was being ridiculous. I couldn't even believe he said that at the time. I was totally applaud. Here was a guy that hadn't worked in over eight years and now instead of doing the required paperwork needed to find a job: he was complaining about the new job economy having too much paperwork. And I was highly offended and called him lazy.

Fast forward four and half years later.

Now, after working for a company that never uses my talents, but also leaves me out e-mails, decision making, and passes me the same  too much work over and over again like a broken record that's playing the worse song ever. I find myself looking for something else. After all, I have degrees, experience, and certificates to finally ask for not only more money, but work for a company where I can apply my proven skills and abilities.

However, I admit: some jobs are an easy apply. You just upload your resume and cover letter and that's all there is to that. But then, you have at least 75 percent, not only have you add your resume and cover letter, but now at least countless pages of questions and other stuff I can't even process my brain around. And now, god rest his soul, I have to agree with my dad, way too much paperwork!

My thing is this, time is money. These jobs that are asking grown adults to fill out long questionnaire after questionnaire and questionnaire is ridiculous to me. For one, you aren't paying us for our time, and for two--who actually gets hired from jobs that have long questionnaires? Anyone? Exactly. I agree with my dad now, its just too much paperwork! And it needs to stop. All you need is two things, a resume and a cover letter. All the questions you have, are in both.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Confession Time: Stepping Back and Regrouping

So, my father died in 2013 and ever since then I felt like my life has been spinning out of control. I am at a new age, I am 35 and the things I used to enjoy are no longer enjoyable. And I am talking about food and certain people's company.

I started a journey back in 2010--to lose weight and keep it off. I was able to drop 60 pounds and never thought I'd see that fat person again. I was probably the happiest I've ever been in 2012, and then 2013 came and boom--all of that out the window.

Well, fast forward six years later: I've gained back at least 25 pounds of what I've lost and I am feeling defeated. Most of it came from stress, my husband lost his brother last year and his mother terrorized us the entire year--clearly not taking it well, but it didn't stop her from harassing us afterwards and just being downright mean, disgusting and everything wrong with a monser in law from hell.

Breathes in and out: woo sa.

Okay, I am not a mean girl, so I don't get along with mean people.

Now, I am not trying to blame anyone for my 25 pound weight gain, but stress from my dad's death and stress from my husband losing his brother has weighed seriously heavy on me and I have had enough--again.

I am taking back full control. I am going to start meditating again, doing Zumba in the afternoon, walking, drinking more water and just regrouping my thoughts and getting back to that happy place I once was.

I will no longer use "sweets," as a way to escape the pain that I keep buried inside. It's not like I feel great eating it, so why torture myself?

In all honesty, I have always had a problem with my weight. Since day one, I've been on a yo-yo diet for years and I really thought this time I would never be fat again. So goodbye weight gain, and hello to weightloss--my old friend--the one I miss . . . the most.

Monday, June 6, 2016

Fantasy Novel's Not Selling Well

So the above title is true, according to Publisher's Weekly, there haven't been any good sells on fantasy books in a really long time. *Looks at collection and wonders why*

The question is, where does that leave us fantasy writers looking for representation? Well, we could just stop writing fantasy and jump to what's selling right? But what good would that do, you're nine times out of ten going to rush and at this age in time, it's really hard to be completely original. Yeah, seriously it is.

Then comes another question, should we just wait until it starts selling again? But what good would that do? An idea, is an idea. And when it's  ready to bounce from our minds and onto our keyboards, notepads, journals, etc--there is no stopping our imagination. For now, I will continue to write what I am good at. I am a good story teller when it comes to fantasy. However, I admit, I do want to dip into an all romance novel someday and possibly some really exciting Goonie MG adventure with no magic and all just a mystery, but for now: YA/NA magic, talking objects, huge insects, and retelling is where my heart wants to be. It lives there. It breathes there. And I can't help it.

Now, if I could just convince an agent to see my talent.

Friday, June 3, 2016

Welcome BookWorms!

I've decided to start a blog, and hoping that I can meet other writers, book, TV show lovers, and movie gurus--just like me.

I'll be reviewing articles, related to writing of course. I will be reviewing books that I've read, and other sweet things that gets me by.

My intention for this blog, is to bring us all together and have our very own little haven, where you can vent freely and have a good time.