The Waiting Game

Waiting sucks. No truly, it does!

When you sit back and think of how many times in your life you have wait for things, it's astronomical. You get to work in the morning and can't wait to go home. You can't wait to have fun with your friends this week. You have something fun planned for the weekend and can't wait to celebrate. The vacation of a lifetime is coming up and you can't wait to experience the adventure. Wait, wait, wait... it seems like that's all we ever do is wait!

As an aspiring author, waiting is torture! You submit to several contests and patiently wait to see if you're one of the finalists. Sorry, the results aren't out until 2011. You'll just have to wait. You finish your next chapter and give it to your CP. God help you if it's given to her on a Friday. You'll just have to wait until Monday to find out if it passed. Sitting on the edge of my seat until Monday, CP!

What I've learned is to forget about it. No matter what, you will not change the outcome. So why sit and drive yourself crazy? Move on. Submit, deliver and forget about it. If it was meant to be, it was meant to be. Did you try your best? Then that's all that counts. Focus on the now and do not think upon the future. *Repeating several times to self.*  

With all of the hustle and bustle in today's society we all have to wait in traffic, wait at the doctor's office, wait in a restaurant, wait in the check-out line, wait for 'the call.'  

What are some things you cannot stand waiting for?

'Tis the Season

No, I'm not speaking of Christmas... yet. I'm speaking of Halloween. Not only is it a time for ghosts, goblins, pumpkins and candy, but it's also my favorite time of year. My birthday. Yep. Who would've thought?

I often wondered why my mother could not have delivered me a day earlier or even a day later, but no, I was persistent even then. I was destined to be born on Halloween. It's such a magical time for children. Who wouldn't want to imagine being someone or something else for one day out of the year... a chance to escape and to dream?  

When I was younger, there were many advantages about being born on this day. For instance, my birthday parties were always in costume. My family never had to worry about having a 'theme' birthday celebration. Bring a costume and come as you are! Of course, there were always school parties and parades which made it such a treat for me since it was also my special day. No pun intended!

Although, I must admit that sometimes having a Halloween birthday was a nightmare. As I grew older and wiser, I realized this may not be the coolest day to have a birthday after all. I had to live with comments such as, "Oh, that explains why you're such a witch." I'm being polite. Use 'witch' interchangeably. I'm sure you can come up with some creative sayings on your own. I've heard it all.

I remember an elderly man calling in one day to the day job. He was 73 years old and I noticed his birthday was October 31st. When I brought to his attention that I also shared the same day of spendid bliss, I said, "Could I ask you a question?" Imagine my surprise when he answered me before I even asked the question. 

"No, it does not. I'm 73 years old and I've been called everything under the sun. Devil, warlock, ghoul... It does not get better."

So 'tis the season of celebration for select individuals that share this day. So to all of you... Happy Birthday, my dear friends. I understand. For those of you that dare call me something other than my given name, I just might have to cast a spell on you ;)

How fitting that my new m/s is titled: Bewitching a Highland Rogue.

Happy Halloween!

Tantallon Castle

Tantallon Castle rests atop the high cliffs east of North Berwick. Sir William, first Earl of Douglas, built this castle in 1358.

The Douglas earls had been modest Lanarkshire landowners in the 12th century, but all of that changed with William's uncle, Sir James of Douglas. Nicknamed 'The Good,' he was very close with Robert the Bruce and that friendship gave way to rich rewards being passed to the family after Bruce became king. That included the barony of North Berwick.

Sir William created this castle which was the last great curtain-walled castle built from new in Scotland. Above the front door, Sir William placed a stone plaque. Although it is badly worn, the heart carved on it can still be made out. In its time, the heart would have been painted blood red. Sir William's adoption of the heart as the family's armorial device displays his indebtedness to his Uncle James, who had been entrusted by Bruce to carry his heart to the Holy Land. That heart remains at the heart of the Douglas coat of arms to this day. 

The most conspicuous feature of Tantallon is the red sandstone curtain wall. Although it has been battered not only by cannon but also by the winds and storms, this castle dominates the cliff side. Following Sir William's death in 1384, his widow Margaret, countess of Angus, rose some medieval controversy. Within four years, the mighty house of Douglas had split into two, the 'Black' and the 'Red.'

Tantallon passed to the Red Douglas earls and remained theirs for the rest of its days. It endured three sieges in its 300-year existence. 

Living Life in the 80's

"What's Miami Vice?" asked my daughter, making a scrunched up face.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked, rolling my eyes. Then I actually thought about it and realized, she had no idea. Who could forget Don Johnson and his pimped out clothes? I remember all of the guys wishing they were Don Johnson and all of the girls dressing like they were in Miami.

There were some great things that came out of the 80's. Some I'd like to forget like wearing leg warmers over my jeans! Hey, I was quite in style at the time! And who can remember Madonna's jelly bands being all the rage? Between big hair bands, mullets... we thought we had great fashion sense. Ha!

Anyway, I have been on a mission to subject my daughter to all of the 80's movies we can get our hands on. She loves them! Do you remember any of these?

The Breakfast Club
Pretty in Pink
The Goonies
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
St. Elmo's Fire
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Dirty Dancing
War Games
Short Circuit
16 Candles
9 to 5
A Nightmare on Elm Street (We love horror movies and Johnny Depp!)
Back to the Future
Beetlejuice
Beverly Hills Cop
Caddyshack
Footloose
Fright Night
Gremlins
Mannequin
Overboard
Risky Business
Teen Wolf

Just to name a few! Care to admit anything that you donned in the 80's? Flashdance shirts maybe? ;)

Writing Romance

5:10a.m.  Alarm goes off. Big sigh. Ugh! It's Groundhog Day again. I am not one to hit the snooze. Once the alarm goes off, I'm up. Springing out of bed, I think of a reason why I should go to the day job today. The bills need paid! Grunting to self, I had to be logical. Dressed, check. Hair, check. Make-up, check. Wake daughter--not an easy task. Do her hair before school. Oh, crap. I forget my dress shoes. Back to the closet, get shoes.

6:00a.m. Downstairs. Throw lunch and shoes in my bag and grab my Alphasmart. Bye! Love you! Out the door by 6:05a.m. and drive to the Park and Ride.

6:25a.m. Cringing, I board public transportation. Editing the pages I wrote for the previous day, I sigh. Not my best work. It could be better. Fix this, fix that. That should work. Pull out the Alphasmart. Needing to get back into the groove, I read the last paragraph I wrote. Oh, that's it. It's flowing now. "This is the last stop." Great, I was really in a groove. Throw Alphasmart back into bag.

7:00a.m. Exit public transportation. Walk briskly to work, bypassing my favorite morning drink. Stick to your diet!

7:05a.m. Arrive at day job. Unpack bag and sigh. This is truly Groundhog Day. Put out fires until lunch.

12:15p.m. Heat up lunch and race back to cubicle. Let food cool and pull out Alphasmart. Read last paragraph and let the creative juices flow. "Can I ask you a question?" Ugh! Answer question, eat lunch, back to writing. Read last paragraph and continue. Crap, time is up! 

1:45p.m. Wow. Day job work is done and I have 15 minutes until a meeting. Read last paragraph and write, write, write. Hurry before the thought is lost! Time is up.

3:05p.m. Outta here.

3:15p.m. Board public transportation and pull out Alphasmart. Read last paragraph and write. Darn it! I need to stop and use the Thesaurus. What is another word for that? Oh, that's it. Continue. "This is the last stop."

4:00p.m. Entering car and driving to daycare to pick up son. Package received.

4:35p.m. Home. Place bags down and immediately help daughter with homework. She's done. OK. What does my son have today? Finish that. Done.

5:15p.m. Unpack bags. Run to computer and download work from Alphasmart. Print out work for editing tomorrow morning. DH starting dinner (again).

6:45p.m. Tonight is basketball. Run daughter to basketball and write during practice. 30 minutes up. Game time. Watch daughter play basketball.

7:15p.m. Home. Kids showered and in PJ's. Mom too!

8:30p.m. Put kids to bed.

9:00p.m. Write for an hour or so until my eyes burn and I can no longer see. Go to bed, check alarm and make sure it's set for 5:10a.m. Done. Head on pillow and sleep like the dead.

And they wonder why I write romance!

Greenan Castle

Greenan Castle sits alone on a cliff top near the Heads of Ayr overlooking the rocks and the beach far below.

This tall and slender tower house is a familiar landmark in the views of Ayr Bay. Standing four stories high at the summit, pretty crow-stepped gables project the corner turrets as was the fashion in the early 17th century. The above-ground entrance has the initials 'J K' embedded in them, confirming that this house belonged to a Kennedy, a powerful Ayrshire clan. Beside the initials, the date 1603 shows it was among the last tower houses built in Scotland.

John Kennedy (not our John F. Kennedy) was the last in a long line to build defensively on the exposed headland. A short distance inland from the tower is the remains of four concentric lines. They are the remains of unfilled ditches and have not been investigated archaeologically. Similar sites identify them as being the defenses of a prior fort--before the Romans invaded. Another example of this is Ayrshire Castle, the hill on which Robert II built his tower house around 1380. It was first defended in the Bronze-age over 2000 years earlier.

About a mile away from Greenan Castle is a large stone said to be a marker of where the Pics and Scots signed a peace treaty.

Dunskey Castle

Atop an exposed, rocky point on the west coast of the Rhinns of Galloway stands grim Dunskey Castle. The treacherous waters of the North Channel roar below. Across the North Channel, the low hills of Antrim in Northern Ireland can be faintly seen.

The stronghold has a history as wild as this desolate spot. In 1489, the murderous McCullochs of Cardoness descended upon this place, plundering and burning it as vengeance for the murder of their kinsman by the Laird of Dunskey, William Adair.

As a result of this devastation, the Adairs built a new castle on the site. The oldest part of the present ruin dates to the early 16th century. It was later added to and re planned by Hugh Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery, Laird of Dunsky until his death in 1636. By 1684, the castle was declared 'ruinous.'

I don't know. It looks too cold and desolate for this writer's tastes. Besides, I'm sure there's a wee ghostie or two! Mmm... this could be inspiration for the next manuscript  ;)