Bo Shorts

Not so short that it would show anything off it she bent over... but there's a short story over at Mysterical-E in their Fall issue.



The story is "Family Affairs of Adult Children." It comes in just under 9k, so make sure you have time to finish.



No matter how old we get, we're still our parent's kids. For better or for worse.





Sometimes it's interesting to muse over the ways my own parents have affected me-- directly, indirectly, intentionally, or perhaps even unintentionally.



One example: being late. My folks are always late-- always have been-- to everything. Now that I am in control of my own car and schedule and such, I am always early. Always.



I live about twenty minutes from the school where I teach. I leave 40 minutes before I have to get there-- incase of traffic or other such unexpected delays. Usually, I get there with twenty minutes before class starts. Better that than being late-- at least for a quiet mouse like myself.

My Town Monday: Country Mouse

The delightful Patti Abbott and I paired up again-- she's the City Mouse. She actually likes living in the city... and we paired up this week to do a little City Mouse, Country Mouse post with our respecitve hometowns.

What do I love about living in the country?

I love open fields and forests. Grass between my toes. Crickets and spring peepers. I prefer wild fields and wild flowers over manicured (often too short!) lawns and sparse, sterile flower arrangements. And I like anything growing more than I like anything man made.















I love quiet. I'm a rather solitary wampa hermit crab person. I like to not see in my neighbor's windows. I like, if possible to not hear my neighbor's beyond the occiasional slam of a door or mowing of the lawn. Similarly, I'd prefer they not hear me... especially certain times.



I love wildlife. As a tree-hugger, I like to know that there are still places where bunnies, chipmunks, squirrels, birds, and even deer (stupid deer) can live and frolic in a natural-ish habitat. That they haven't completely lost their homes.





I love quiet drives down lonely two-lane highways. I love being able to safely make a left onto or off of a road without people behind me getting impatient. Especially since the rustbucket I have doesn't hardly get out of it's own way, and it's not going to do so very fast. (I need a bumper sticker that says: "If you drove this car, you wouldn't pull out either.")

I love star gazing. Even the light pollution from the little cities near me obscures too, too many stars. My trip up to Mackinaw City two years ago made that clear with the bazillions more stars that were obscured by the orange glow of my local cities.








I love that few people in the country are in a hurry. They're patient, understanding, and most of them are pretty nice. Not to mention the sense of community that comes from living together in a small area. (Not to say that it's different in the city, but it is. In the country, the community is the town, all the different people from one corner to the next who meet up in the store or the gas station. In the city, it'd be a neighborhood or a clique.)







I don't miss any of the city stuff-- like drug stores on every corner, traffic, smog, and vistas taht consist of harsh corners and man-made structures. I don't miss mile after mile of ashphalt (which also makes temperatures hotter in the summer.) I don't miss chain stores or noisy neighbors. I lived in downtown Brighton for a spell, and while it was convnient to work, that was the only advantage. Everything eles, I can do with out. I don't particularly go out much anyway. I have this thing where I get easily irritated at stupid people... it flares up a lot when I try to go to the movies or the grocery store.

Though I admit that I like being only a short drive from town. I think more than 30 minutes is too long. Luckily, in Livingston County, there's not much city, so it's possible to live in the sticks and have a job in the "city."



Sadly, my little slice of country is turning more into suburbia (which leads to city. Cities lead to suffering, to the dark side of the force. ;-) But I still think of myself as a country girl. With high speed internet of course.

Are you a Country Mouse or a City Mouse?

And don't forget to visit Travis Erwin for other My Town Monday posts!

Just Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

How disappointing. My husband's car is only 3 years old, with a massive 38,000 miles. And not only did the strut mount fail, but the car is already rusting rather dreadfully on the underside.

Now, there are a couple competing factors, but the outcome is still shock (horror) and disappointment.

1. This is Michigan. One of the Rust Belt states. And Michigan has a delightful obsession with thinking that winter time means that roads should be free from snow. So, there is continally enough salt on Michigan roads to turn black ashphalt white. This salt eats cars. It is the cancer of Michigan cars that can be held at bay for only a little while before it creeps in, slowly destroying a car from the botttom (where you can't see it!) up. My own car has terminal cancer. It has months to live, if that.

2. My husband follows directions well. If you wash your car frequently in Michigan winters, it will delay the inevitable rust. So, if it's 33 degrees, my husband is washing the car. (Me, not so much... hence the death sentence on my own car ;-)

3. My husband's car is the third Cavalier we've owned. The 90 Cavalier didn't rust too bad for some 7-8 years. And was still in good shape, rust wise, when my mechanic got tired of working on it. And the repairs were worth more than the rest of the car was worth. The 94 Cavalier didn't rust too bad until I started driving it about 3 years ago. Heh. Yeah. No lesson learned. It's like they forgot to undercoat it or something.

My cars are supposed to go 200k miles or 10 years, at least. That's the minimum. At the current Rust Rate on Hubby's car, we won't get that. It looks like my rust bucket did a few years ago.

Seems like each car we got has succumbed to rust sooner than the predessor.

It would help if people could just drive in the snow. Then there wouldn't need to be so much stalt. It's not hard if you just slow down and pay attention...oh... never mind.

Routine

I wish I could say that I've fallen into a nice routine now that the semester is nearly four weeks old.

But when I lie, I prefer to do it in more interesting and entertaining ways. Like fiction.

I can't seem to get a routine in place. I'm not behind on anything, but it feels like if I could just get into a routine, I'd have less wasted time. And more time to write. I feel like I'm running just to keep from falling behind. =/

In the meantime, I've made some progress on the current batch of revisions on the first Novel and done a couple rounds of revisions on a submitted and almost accepted short story.

I also read the 'Hell of a Woman' Anthology, which I highly recommend. Some of the stories made me want to reach into the pages and kneecap the women, but most of them featured dames who can keep their shit together. (My preference!) Over all, a good read.

My Town Monday: A My Town Meme

Couple weeks back, Travis Erwin, the man behind My Town Monday, posted a Meme. I was doing my series on railroads, so I put it off. Until now. But here it is-- my My Town Meme

HOMETOWN (past, present, or future - your choice) -- Livingston County. Okay, it's a county, not a town. But having lived in Howell, Brighton, and Hamburg; student taught in Hartland; attended school in Pinckney, I can't really pick one of these towns and call it my town. So I call the county my home.

POPULATION -- 2000 census put the poplation about 156,000. The 2007 estimate was 183,000, but I'm not sure if the numbers have maintained the formerly-expected growth. Like the rest of Michigan, Livingston County was nailed in the back of the economic skull and knocked to it's knees. Houses are empty all over the places, and I have to think the population has been affected. Unfortunately, there are still too many people in Livingston County...

YOU SHOULD THINK OF MY TOWN WHEN ... you think of Bo Fexler, Patti Abbott, or Michigan beyond Detroit. Other than that, Livingston County is just another partly-rural area in a midwest state. But the coolest shaped state.

YOU SHOULD CUSS MY TOWN WHEN ... another suburban school is rocked by some stupid scandal that comes about from a combination of oblivious parents, too much money, and not enough responsibility. We're not the cause for such anation-wide stupidity, but we're just one more place in the U.S. where parents are too concerned with their SUV and McMansion payments who thought living in the "country" (Ha!) would solve the problems with their never-disciplined kids. Yea. At least it's job security for me as an alternative high school teacher. ;-)

ONE MUST SEE IF YOU VISIT -- Downtown Brighton-- visit the Imagination Station, the Tridge, and the Yum-Yum Tree.

ONE PLACE YOU SHOULD AVOID -- The Double Roundabout from Hell on Lee Road at US-23. There's nothing wrong with roundabouts in general, but this one is three double roundabouts damn near on top of each other. And too that the elistist jerks in Brighton who think that whatever direction they are going has the right of way... it gets interesting sometimes. Besides, the only thing on the other side is another stupid ass mall that replaced a lovely open field. =(

FAMOUS RESIDENT -- Edwin B. Winans, one time governor of Michigan, once upon a time ago.

RENOWNED ATHLETE -- Drew Henson. Brighton High School graduate who played University of Michigan football. Then went off to play with the Yankees. He's currently on the practice team with the Detroit Lions. (Snicker... practice squad for one of the worst teams. Wow.)

WITHOUT MY TOWN, THE WORLD WOULD NOT HAVE ... Hell. Hell Michigan is one of the locales in Michigan. So, if you didn't know, you can tell someone to "Go to Hell" without being profane. Or you can do like some of the sneaky kids around here will and say, "Go to Hell... Michigan."

I LIVE IN MY TOWN BECAUSE ... I always have. My folks moved here when I was about four (or so I'm told). I grew up in an old farmhouse between Hamburg and Pinckney. I got my first "real" job at a local chain retailer in Brighton. I worked there to pay for my expensive schooling at a local Teaching University. Then I met this guy... at the retailer where I worked. We worked together, then got an apartment together. So we stayed. Then I got a teaching job at a lcoal alternative high school, and we still stayed. Though we got exiled to our current home out past the edge of civilization. And here we are. My family is still around. His family is not far away. We'll be local yokels for life, I'm sure.

I MIGHT LEAVE ONE DAY BECAUSE ... well, I was going to say 'if I got enough money for a place on the island of Kuaii' but I think I'll always be a local yokel. I like being a 'troll' and living under the (Mackinac) Bridge. I like living in the mitten-shaped, and there for COOLEST shaped state ever. If I got enough money to have a place on Kuaii, it would only be a vacation home. But, man, that would be nice. =)

Any questions?

Don't forget to see Travis Erwin for other My Town Monday posts.

For Potential New Fans

Bo Fexler has a few fans that I know of-- and I love every one of you! But one of the things I've been chewing over while driving back and forth to work is how to best introduce Bo to potential new fans.

She's not the most warm, loving character. And she uses sex to get what wants. There will be some people for whom this will probably be a turn off before they get past page one. For some people, the mere mention of bedroom activities is enough to put down a book. I accept that. (Fools!)

But there are others for whom the context of such naughty activities is more important. Perhaps I can get them to overlook this trait of Bo's by showing that there's more to Bo than a sexy dame who uses her body because she can.

That also started me thinking about why, exactly, Bo uses sex and in what situations. An amusing character study, especially the part during the hour I sat on I-96 while traffic came to a dead stop.

So, now I have a better understanding of why Bo does what she does. The other problem is how to introduce snippets of that, along with introducing Bo, introducing the investigation, and not bogging down in the first couple chapters of my first, as yet-unrepresented-first-novel.

I've finally come to the conclusion that there is way too fucking much to try to do in the first couple chapters. I'm not sure what can give-- character or plot. Since Bo's such a difficult character, I'm leaning towards slowing the plot at bit at the start to introduce her and show that there's something more than a sexy, manipulative woman.

Your thoughts?

Bo Story

Bo's been spotted over at DZ Allen's Muzzle Flash in a little short story called "Sex Act." A little naughty fun with some handcuffs and Bo.

Check it out.

And clean up after yourself when you're done. ;-)

• Novel #2 Progress: 20k ish
• Query Status: holding with one partial while I make some revisions to the intro chapters for better characterization
• Currently Writing: Novel #1 Revisions, short story "Hit Woman"
• Current Song: Objection (tango) by Shakira