Sneak Peak to Next Week

Hey All!  Just a quick heads up.  Met a new friend through the comments at Andrew Leon's highly recommended blog "StrangePegs".  I really like Briane's comments, so I started reading his blogs.  My favorite is "Me, Annotated."  So in the spirit of friendship, I'm doing a blog tour stop for him next week (Friday), and he'd like all of you to know about the whole tour, so I'm doing this preview post, too.  I hope you'll come back on Friday the 13th (an appropriate day to promote a horror story...) so you can enter the give-away and learn more.

My name is Anne. With each day of my life, my actions brought me closer to Hell. Now, with each day of what is left of my existence, I struggle to avoid the fate that was set out for me -- or rather, not just to avoid it, but to master it. 

 A contemporary horror classic, "Temporary Anne" presents the terrifying tale of a woman who avoids eternal damnation by sending others to take her place, scrambling to avoid the minions of Mephistopheles while searching for a way to allow her ravaged body to serve her indomitable will. The frightening images -- demons made of ice, babies' souls consumed -- will stick with you for as long as Temporary Anne exists -- which is FOREVER.

Get it on Amazon for $0.99!  And watch for the blog tour where you can win free copies of this book and all my others.  The tour will be:

1. Life Is Good: Friday 9/13

2. Strange Pegs: 9/16

3. Laws Of Gravity 9/18

4. The Blutonian Death Egg 9/20

5. Nigel G. Mitchell Author, Blogger, Geek 9/23

6. Jessica Bell Author/Musician 9/26

7. Sandra Ulbrich Almazan, Speculative Fiction Author 9/30

8.  Jess' Book Blog 10/3

9. Lara Schiffbauer's Motivation For Creation 10/7

10.PTDilloway.com 10/10

For this tour, I'll be offering not only giveaways of Temporary Anne and my other books, but I'll  be writing a short horror story on the go: I'll begin the story and each host and their readers will get to suggest where the story goes next.  It's a blog tour like no other! 

--

Briane Pagel

"That's a lot of infinity!":  http://www.nonsportsmanlikeconduct.com

"I sometimes call him Pumpkin Pie.": http://www.thinkingthelions.com

"In my defense, I didn't know what whores were" : http://www.troublewithroy.com

This has been a production of the Vince Lombardi fanfic group:  http://www.nonsportsman.com

Dream a Little Dream...

I've been wearing a CPAP machine since the end of June. I think we've finally become reluctant friends, or at least declared a cease-fire.

In case you missed my incessant whining about it, you can read “SCUBA, Anyone?” and “Why I'm No Longer Going to Colonize Mars”. Basically, it plays into my claustrophobia, and my extreme fear of drowning. I had nightmares (at first) about both of those events and would wake up hyperventilating, which is kinda hard to do when air is being forced down your throat. I'm a champion panicker though, so I managed.

After a while, as I was getting used to it, my dreams changed to me being assigned impossible tasks and working on them all night long. If I woke up and then went back to sleep, I'd be back in the same dream, at the same place I left, still having to complete the hideous task.

Have you ever run a daycare with too many children to count who were not allowed to take naps and the cars you had to transport them places were all rusted out with no car seats?

Or how about catering a large affair for 200 people, in a cooking competition (we do know where THAT part of the dream came from) and all the other teams have assistants, but you're all alone to cook and serve just as efficiently as the others. Wow, that was a LONG night. I never did get all the plates done and was actually glad when the alarm went off at 5 am.

However, a couple of nights ago, I had a really strange dream that kept shifting genre. It was a shorter dream, and it kept starting over, with me playing a different role each time. At first I helped kidnap a bus driver, then the next time I helped the bus driver escape. The third iteration, the bus driver and I were falling in love, and by the fourth time, we were married with an adorable little boy.

When the alarm went off that next morning, I was almost melancholy to let it go. That boy felt like a real son and as I was coming to consciousness, I just felt the ache of leaving him behind and entering my real world. Of course, I did eventually wake up fully and realized that my own kids were needing me to keep them on track for the “get ready for school” three ring circus. I shook it off as I took off my mask and went on with my day.

What's your weirdest dream? Care to interpret mine that just kept changing? Have you ever just wanted to just stay in the dream you were having?

~Tina

IWSG: What You've Done for Me!

Hey folks, it's the first Wednesday of the month, which means IWSG (Insecure Writers Support Group) time! Today is a special day, though – it's our two year anniversary! I'm so glad to be a part of this community of writers who are so supportive of one another. I don't always post my entry (ahem, that whole memory thing...) but when I wander blogland visiting my buddies, I see their posts and am always encouraged. In honor of our anniversary, I'd like to share what the group means to me.

Not everyone writes about being insecure. A lot of writers share success stories, and those are what help me the most. Well, encouraging comments when I AM insecure help, too, but seeing others who have overcome what I'm dealing with gives me hope.

This group has really helped me have more confidence. I'm much more likely to just hit “publish” than I was before. I used to write stuff, think, “Not good enough” and just leave it in draft. I've learned not to be so hard on myself, which is a good thing. The more I write, the better I will get, and putting my writing out there is the only way to get that job done. Thanks to all of you for getting me to this place.

I'd also like to give a big thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting and running this group. We are so grateful to you for your idea, and your relentless encouragement to “let it all hang out” and help each other. I know so many have benefited from this group, and we are blessed to have you in our lives. Be sure to visit Alex today because he has a BIG announcement about exciting happenings in the future of the IWSG!

~Tina, not so insecure anymore, thanks to all of you!

P.S If you want to join, click on the tab over at Alex's to sign up on the linky.

How to Sleep Like a Burrito

OYT sleeps like a 5-layer Taco Bell burrito. I don't know how he does it. Even The Engineer, who sleeps in flannel pj's and has two blankets on his side to my sheet only, thinks the kid ought to just melt. He doesn't. Maybe it's the fleece...

Here's the wrapper. Four fleece blankets and comforter.

When he was born, he received a lovely fleece blanket (that would be the turquoise one poking out of the roll, with skating penguins.) It got so worn you could see through it, so his grandparents bought him one with trains, which were his obsession at age 5. We thought he'd put the penguins away, but no, he just started dragging two blankets around the house.

Round Three. Now both of those blankets were worn out, so we try again. With a YELLOW blanket. Remember, this is the boy we used to call YellowBoy. Nope. Now he was dragging THREE blankets around, but always the penguins touching his skin, and the other two added on top.

Next time, he decided that camo was the way to go. By now, I knew no blankets will be put away, but at 12, he'd stopped dragging them around the house so what's one more fleece blanket in the bed?

So each night, he carefully layers each of the blankets, in order of receipt, then I put the big comforter on top. Next, he rolls around until he's a total burrito, his arms pinned inside. He sleeps like a rock, I mean, a burrito.

Mornings are fun. He's hard to bring to consciousness, but one sure way is to grab the edge of the “tortillas” and begin pulling. He rolls over and over until he unrolls and then the burrito is gone, and the sweet growing-way-too-fast boy heads for the shower.

Do your kids have weird sleeping rituals? Do you?

~Tina

Yes, I Use Algebra Every Day

Math is a wonderful thing. Just ask Ned Schneebly, played by Jack Black, in the wonderfully delicious movie, “School of Rock”. This clip is one minute. Totally worth it.

I've had three conversations recently about math, its merits, its teachers, and after the third one last night, I just couldn't help myself. This is a blatant ad for how great math is, IF you get the right teacher.

It all started with this picture you've probably seen circulating on fb.

We got into quite a discussion on that thread about when algebra is actually used in everyday life. My contention is that you use it all the time, but it's become an innate skill, so you don't notice. Others argued that they're just using common sense and arithmetic. I say you have to be able to put that arithmetic into the problem in the correct way to find your answer and that's algebra. I even challenged one commenter that she was using calculus without knowing it, but that's for another post.

Another conversation got started on fb, with the same picture, about how it's the teacher who makes the difference. I totally agree with this, and not just because I was (and will always be inside) a math teacher, 7^th grade. It's the teacher's JOB to make sure each student understands math. This is where the magic part comes in. Math problems have one correct answer, yet there are multiple paths to that answer. Those different paths represent different learning styles, and figuring out a student's learning style will help the teacher know which type of explanation should be used for that kid. Most teachers don't bother with this though, and that breaks my heart. They've figured out that a certain method will work for 75% of the class, and that's good enough.

That is a good strategy for the lesson part of the class. It's during the walking around and checking with each student portion of the class, as they're working the new material, where the different methods come in. Some teachers just sit at their desks, though. Criminal. So many kids are turned off by math and made to feel dumb because they “don't get it.” Get a new teacher, you can be great at math! Don't give up!

The third conversation was just between me and a friend whom I was helping with her son's algebra homework. She was saying it was so great to have him past simple arithmetic because he never did well in that, but that the higher concepts of algebra really clicked with him, and with the help of his (allowed, as it should be) calculator, he was doing well for the first time.  Some kids struggle with basic math, but excel at the abstract stuff.

My final point would be that math really is cool. It's a language, it's a way of describing the world, it's a puzzle to be figured out, and it's good gymnastics for your brain. Now get out there and do some math! Or help your kid with their homework, and try to figure out how he or she thinks. It will be worth it.

What are your feelings about math? Have you used algebra today? Did you have good or bad teachers? Or if all this math is making you ill, then what subject do you get all excited about?

~Tina

P.S A friend posted this on fb just for me.  LOVE a good math joke.  If you come across one, please send it to me - I collect them.

Get off Your Brother!

I think most moms and dads develop phrases they use to get the attention of their children. We have of course, the classics.

“Don't make me pull this car over!”

“If I have to come back there...”

“Wait until your father gets home!”

In our house, the most used phrase is, “Get off your brother!” It's a handy phrase when you have two boys. There's no need to investigate the situation at length, because inevitably one brother will be “on” the other. It's generic enough that it has multiple applications.

Wrestling too hard for the younger one? “Get off your brother!”

Clinging and hugging too much? “Get off your brother!”

General pestering and annoying? “Get off your brother!”

Hear someone shrieking in misery? “Get off your brother!”

It's funny to hear their responses, because they admit their guilt without meaning to. After hearing the phrase, one or both will say, “But Mom, I was only...” It's especially good when they both have something to defend themselves with. Then you know it's a true brotherly spat and that both are partially to blame. A simple, “Get off your brother!” is all that's needed to rectify the situation.

Some situations are more complicated. “But I'm not ON my brother!” This said after some physical confrontation is over and though he is indeed not PRESENTLY on his brother, he sure was a minute ago, which I why I heard screaming. These are the ones that are harder to untangle and figure out the true culprit who must then be dealt with. Sure, the big brother may have put the little one in a headlock and caused discomfort, but why? Surely there was some instigation going on. I'm not saying there haven't been random cases of headlocking happening, but most of the time, the little one has done something irritating causing the older to resort to said method of restraint.

The phrase continues to be useful even now that they are teenagers. Of course The Transporter could best OYT in most altercations of a combative nature, but these days, the “on your brother” is more metaphorical. “Get off your brother!” “But he hasn't done the dishes! I'm just trying to get him to do the dishes!” My job, not yours. Get OFF.

We have a new phrase, too. They've really bonded this school year, and now I get to see them “playing well with each other” and say, “What a nice brother you have!”

Does your family have any handy phrases that you use repeatedly in the wrangling of your children? Did your parents? Please share.

~Tina

Newton's Laws of Depression

You know I'm a math nerd and a word nerd, but I'm also a science nerd. Can't really help it after hanging out with an Engineer for 30 years (yes, that's actually true – in December we'll celebrate the 30^th anniversary of our first date.) So we're going to talk about physics today. Newton's Laws. Newton was cool. He's one of the guys who invented calculus. Calculus is cool. But that's for another day. Or maybe not. I've found that calculus fans are hard to find...

So yeah, Newton's Laws of Motion. (No, you have not stumbled onto some rip-off of The Big Bang Theory...I will not mention that damn cat, don't worry.) His first law, in regular words, states that an object at rest wants to stay at rest, and an object in motion wants to stay in motion. I've found this to be so true when dealing with depression.

On the days when I'm feeling completely done in by inertia (the at rest part) there isn't much I've found that will get me unstuck. I'm paralyzed by that inertia, and don't want to do anything. Not even fun things, like visiting a friend to drink wine, or hard but necessary things, like paying bills with dwindling funds. “Oh just do it!” Nope. Doesn't work that way. Call it Tina's Laws of Depression.

On the other hand, on the days that I'm moving, like yesterday when I did 8 loads of laundry, and I could have kept going - but I ran out of detergent, and by the time I got home from the store with more, I was out of time - that motion, that accomplishment just keeps me going.

So what determines which kind of day I'm having? I honestly don't know. I just know that some days I wake up, completely stuck, and others I don't. I've tried to figure out if there's some sort of situational event that triggers one or the other, much in the same way that I'm trying to figure out what foods cause the crippling stomach aches and which don't. So many variables, not enough equations. (That's not calculus – that's algebra, by the way.) You'd think I'd have enough equations by now, having suffered depression for twelve long years, but no. That's because the variables just keep piling up.

Am I depressed because I don't feel well? Or does depression make me feel sick? Or both? It's a circle, that's for sure, and that's probably why I'm stuck on this merry-go-round. I know this isn't exactly a fun topic, and I really don't want to whine about being depressed, but I'm stuck in an inertia day and then the fun ideas for writing won't even come.

So do you think Newton's Laws can be translated like this? Suffer from depression, and willing to talk about it? Feel free to discuss. Just don't tell me it's all in my head and to just get up and do it, or I'll hit you over the head with my oh so popular CPAP machine. That sucker's heavy...

~Tina