"She May Be Evil", STRICKEN on GoodReads and More!

It's been another one of "those" kind of weeks when you don't think your drunken squirrels are going to line up, but they actually do.

First of all, I would like to thank my favorite hockey team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, for a phenomenal season, and an amazing run in the playoffs. They may have been knocked out in the first round, but at least they made it this year... A year or two ahead of schedule. That's fine. I was so happy to see them do it, and prove they have the firepower to make it in... Washington was a tough team this year, and I think my boys did a wonderful job getting two games out of the six they played, one in Washington.

Enjoy the off season guys, you deserve it!

Writing update...

Last week wasn't a good week for me. My lifelong conditions acted up big time... But I still managed to get another 3K added to the current WIP. I'm now into Chapter Nine, and closing in on not one but *two* huge key scenes for the mains.

It's still almost writing itself. I'm also having a lot of fun finding out what flies out of my fingers as I type, because sometimes I don't plan on the "filler"... I just write. If it's crap, it's crap. I can always revise it!

STRICKEN is now available pretty much everywhere you can purchase e-books. It's available for Kindle, Nook, Mobipocket, Kobo, and a lot of other e-book formats.

Here's where I know it's available - other than Amazons around the world and eXtasy Books' site.....

Apple iTunes (iPad/iPhone)
Barnes and Noble (NOOK)
Google Books (various formats)
Google Play (various formats)
Kobo (Indigo Books' ebook format)
Smashwords (various formats)

It's also listed on Maniac Readers and finally Goodreads, which I thought was really, really cool!

Don't forget it's still available as a print on demand paperback from Amazon.com!

Thank you so much to all who have purchased a copy so far!

Here's the updated banner for my Facebook author page...

I also made this poster just for something to do.

I'm getting more and more proficient with GIMP each time I use it.

Lastly... We finally have *news* from Whom Gods Destroy about their upcoming (and highly anticipated) new album, FAR REACHES... It IS coming out sometime soon, they are finally finished the producing, etc, and have sent it off to be printed. I will alert everyone when I get word it's available, and I will tell everyone where to get it.

The guys also released their third official video today, for "SHE MAY BE EVIL". I watched it and it's pretty cool. Lots of fire. It suits the song.

Have a great week everyone. I leave you with the official video of SHE MAY BE EVIL by Whom Gods Destroy, from their upcoming album, FAR REACHES...

Enjoy!

The Promise of Spring

Another week has passed... And it was a pretty good one.

I reread the "updated" version of the parts where I removed the flotsam and it looks great for a rough draft. So much better with things cleaned up and back to focusing on the mains instead of that bloody tangent.

I've more than made up for that 6K of flotsam that was removed from it too... This week saw me hitting 3700 words, and that was in less than four hours of writing on one day. 

I'm now back in the middle of chapter eight, and we're seeing another huge turning point for the mains. Several have happened in the last half chapter or so... More than I anticipated. That's what happens when I write by the seat of my jeans instead of plan... 

But that's when some of the best scenes come out too. Stricken has one particular character that was written in on a whim, and they turned out to be a huge catalyst for the mains in that story... I'm not saying who it is publicly. Anyone who wants to know will just have to purchase a copy of Stricken to find out... And then guess which supporting character I'm talking about. 

I know, I'm evil. 

I've given up on setting word count goals for now... If I get any writing done in a week, I'm happy. My best friend thinks I'm pushing myself again, which is making me sick and she's worried I'll burn out if I keep pushing myself to get this manuscript's first draft done by the end of June. 

So even though I do not like it, I'm not setting a deadline to have it finished. That way I don't panic and stress myself out if I don't have it done by the time school gets out for the summer. It'll be done when it gets done. I'd prefer to have it finished so I can set it aside all summer and not worry about it while I look over "Fugitive Dreams", and see if that one is okay as is with a ton of edits, or I need to do a full rewrite on it. (I hate rewrites for the record!)

It's either do that or get hit with a virtual frying pan. I'd rather not be knocked silly, thanks... 

I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend... Don't overdose on chocolate!

I leave you with "She May Be Evil" by Whom Gods Destroy, which is going to be on their upcoming album, "FAR REACHES", due out later this year. 

Well, That Was Different!

It's been another wild week at the Allison residence...

We had another snowstorm Tuesday night into Wednesday, and although schools were open in my county, I decided to keep our son home to be safe. I had been getting reports from local pals on Facebook about how slippery things were even close to town, and that was the final straw.

Son didn't mind. The laptop is set up in the living room and he has his gaming console as well as portable gaming systems, plus tons of books. He was happy he didn't have to go out in the cold.

This past week saw a major change in things regarding the current manuscript in progress. I was going to try writing on Monday but was stalled in a spot, and couldn't figure out why.

I took a long look at it, and realized I was adding too much flotsam, and was going in a zillion tangents. I talked it over with my best friend and a couple of others, and decided to remove all of the passive areas, or spots where I wasn't focusing on the two mains and their journey.

Close to 6K was removed, over a full chapter. Instead of showing certain things, I only mentioned them briefly, and decided to go with a single two page, 1100 word scene, as well as a quick, three or four paragraph update later on for that particular "line". 

It looks and reads so much better! Yeah, I went from being in the middle of chapter 8 to in Chapter 6, but it's worth losing that much junk to get things right. It's better that I caught it now instead of having a beta reader catch it, right? 

I made up for it... Yesterday was a 3100 word day. I wrote up the "certain things" part, which was a catalyst for a *huge* breakthrough for the mains. The breakthrough scene went a lot easier than the catalyst one - I have my reasons for that, but I'd rather wait to say anything publicly. My beta readers and a few select others know, and they're sworn to secrecy. 

I know exactly how the "aftermath" scene is going to play out, from the POV to everything else. I just have to find the time to write it...

WHOM GODS DESTROY has revealed the cover art for their upcoming album, "FAR REACHES". It is gorgeous! They have also produced a few posters for promotional purposes, and you can enter a draw to win a signed one... Go to the link to their Facebook fan page (listed in my links area to the left of the blog body) and comment on the photo of the poster. Your name is entered. 

Here's what the posters look like. Eli and Tim did an amazing job designing them. 

I love it. 

Another thing that happened was a gorgeous rainbow last night... 

It was fading by the time I snapped this photo but I thought it was a cool shot due to the moon being in it as well. It was a really strong and pretty one, the perfect end to a great day.

Lastly, something arrived in the mail yesterday...

Yes, that is a PAPERBACK copy of STRICKEN! It's available as a print on demand option on the American Amazon, as well as the UK one. 

It is SO PRETTY! I can't stop looking at it! 

Even though I have it in paperback as well as the versions for e-books my publisher puts out, it still hasn't sunk in that I am finally published. It feels like a dream, one that I'm going to wake up from at any time. 

If it is a dream, I hope I never wake up. This one is way too good to lose.

Where you can purchase STRICKEN:

Extasy Books (my amazing publisher!) - ebook formats only.
Amazon.com - Kindle/e-book format, will direct you to your nation's site, and print on demand paperback.

Don't forget, there is an excerpt on my website, www.vjallison.com!

Have an amazing weekend everyone. I leave you with "THE HAUNTED" by WHOM GODS DESTROY. Enjoy!

Ahead of Schedule?

This past week has been very interesting.

Today, Whom Gods Destroy released their first vlog of 2017... It's less than 13 minutes long, so I decided to burn some bandwidth and watch the entire thing. Let's just say it's nuts. There's never a dull moment with the guys. However the last thing I wanted to see was Tim's butt crack. Thanks for imprinting that onto my memory for good, guys. *GAG!!!* 

It's shared on my author page, for anyone who wants to see it. Link to that is in the Links list in the left hand column. WARNING: Foul language! May not be suitable for all viewers!

On the writing front............

I didn't think I'd do it due to lack of writing time, but I have another rough draft finished. Husband took Son grocery shopping yesterday and I had the entire house to myself for the whole afternoon. I typed in "THE END" at 4:57 PM Atlantic Time yesterday. Finally. 

It's shorter than I expected, only about 90 pages, maybe 92. Less than 50K... BUT that's subject to change as things get edited and rewritten. It needs a *lot* of work before even my editor, Peapod, sees it. 

Right now, it looks like a bomb went off in the middle of an ink factory. The basics are there... I use Draft 1 to build the foundation and subsequent drafts (or incarnations) to erect the rest of it.

I do have a working title for it, but that's subject to change too... "Fugitive Dreams". 

It went into Draft 2 mode earlier today, and I will be cleaning it up a bit this week, when I'm not working on the next project that is... 

Or beta reading...

I think that as an aspiring author, being a beta at least a few times is essential for growth. You learn a lot by reading the rougher drafts of other people's stuff... And it trains your eyes to see similar mistakes in your own work. 

I took this morning off from my own stuff to do a beta read for one of my betas... Gang, this gent is *good*. It was a rougher draft, but the principle of the story was still there, and he has a solid foundation for this particular story. 

I'm hoping to do another round of beta reading for him or someone else soon. Sometimes you need to take a break from your own work and read someone else's for a change. 

Back to working on a blurb for the newly finished first draft. Hopefully I can come up with something coherent that won't give away the full story.

Have a great weekend everyone... I leave you with "Sea of Tears" by Whom Gods Destroy, from their 2007 Demo CD.

Moving Along....

Happy Sunday everyone!

It's been a crazy ride since I last posted. My lifelong condition went crazy again, and between that and not sleeping, I didn't do a lot of writing until this past week.

The current WIP is over halfway finished now, and a lot has happened between the mains. I'm really making progress, and I hope to continue the momentum. I want this one finished, so I can finally set it aside to perk while I get another story going. I'm in limbo right now, waiting for some awesome folk to answer a question about something I'm unfamiliar with... Gotta love the research part of the job!

I am not sure if this one will ever be published or not. Either way, it wasn't a waste of time. I think if it isn't up to my publisher's high standards, it's still a practice story, one to get my feet wet with the writing again. I've been writing it a certain way so I don't have as much work to do if I send it to them either. It helps to know what's expected of you before you submit future stories. 

This week was close to a 5K week. I'm hoping with everything going on that I can squeeze in enough time to get another 1500 words added to it this coming week. If I get more, so be it. At least I'm writing, and loving it, right? ;) 

Nothing new on the local metal music scene, but WGD has mentioned they will be at a few live shows this year. I hope I can go, to show my support for the guys and the rest of the gang in the local metal scene. There's a lot of wonderful and talented people in it, and I am proud to support every one of them. 

Have a great week everyone, I'll update when I can. Things are really getting crazy here, for a good reason. I'll fill you in when I am allowed to.

I leave you with Amber in "Supurrvisor Kitteh" mode from Thursday morning (02/02/17). I had a writing day and this was my view when I opened Word.... I adopted a goofball. Seriously!

Production, At Last!

Back to school, and back to writing.

Or so I thought. 

Last week, I had two writing days... Thursday and Friday. Thursday, things went a little cuckoo with my lifelong condition in the morning again (like it has been for the last couple of weeks), so I decided to start narrowing things down to see what was causing it.

I changed up my routine a little by changing some of the things I eat in the mornings. That didn't work. Since I feel icky and don't want to write when things are going crazy with it, I decided to take the day off from writing and do something I should be doing at least twice a week anyway.

I zipped up to the local Lifestyle Centre, and used their walking track, which is around the top part of the ice arena, above the seats. Four laps of 250 metres each, or a full kilometre, and about 10 minutes. I wasn't even going that fast, and I still made great time. I wasn't happy with myself because I had forgotten the ear buds for my phone (I have all of my music on there for walking, etc), but it wasn't that bad. They have music playing there for all of the areas - arena, cafe, upstairs conference rooms and yoga studios, and of course, the indoor pool. It was mostly pop music out of the 1980s, but it was still a lot better than it could have been.... Even if it wasn't Disturbed, Creed or Whom Gods Destroy.

Things with the condition were evening out by that time, so I decided to pick up a few more things to help it... Fresh and frozen veggies, some cream for the coffee over milk (I use less, so I don't get as many carbs or sugars in the cream), whole grain crackers, and so on. 

By the time I stopped in to say hi to Husband at his workplace, I was tired but feeling a lot better. His boss was there, and she and I talked about some awesome news that happened to me last year - some of you know about it, but until things are confirmed with dates, etc, I'd rather not share it here... I will share when I can, I promise! She's really excited for me, and can't wait for things to really start. I'm too tired and busy writing to be excited right now. I'll save that for when things really take off. 

Friday was much better. Despite things still going crazy with the lifelong condition, I knuckled down and opened TEN. My goal for this week was 1500 words. I got 2252 in only 3 hours, and had a lot happen between the mains. 

Not bad considering things are still acting up... Although I am pretty sure I have figured out what's going on... Tomorrow I'll be trying something new and keeping everything else the same. If the condition goes crazy even with the switch, that wasn't it... If not, I was right, as weird as it sounds. 

I have a few writing days coming up, and if possible, I'd like for this one's first draft finished and in stasis before March Break rolls around. That's two months away. I've written a full first draft in less time, surely I can finish a partially written one.............

I hope all of you have a fantastic week!

I leave you with a quote from "Whom Gods Destroy" by Whom Gods Destroy off of their 2011 album, Signs of Life (used with permission from the band):

"Inside, you've got it all
But fear can cheat the brave
And destroy your heart and soul
To believe gives endless power
The darkness of the mind
The spell that binds

So tip the scales, but understand
Whom gods destroy, they first make mad
An angel's face, the devil's hand
Whom gods destroy, they first make mad."

~Copyright 2011, Whom Gods Destroy

(Mad as in "insane" for the record!) 

Halloween Havoc - A Night of Live Music

Last night, Troubled Waters hosted another amazing live show, "Halloween Havoc".

My brothers and Tim - Whom Gods Destroy - were up first. In fun, they dressed up as clowns... I know not the greatest idea considering the amount of clown sightings lately, but they had this planned for the event ages ago, long before the trend of scary clowns began.

Their set included songs off their upcoming album "Far Reaches" - "She May Be Evil" and "Ready for the Bite" - as well as old favorites like "Devil on Your Shoulder" and "Higher Planes". 

Adam is no longer sitting behind the drum set during performances. He still does the drums on the albums, but they now have his drum tracks set onto an MP3 player so he can be a full front man for the band. Think "Invisible Drummer" like Ovie and Chris have for Flesh Cauldron.

I think Adam did wonderfully for his first performance as the full front man for the band, he sounded great even if he did look really goofy in his pink clown suit. Yes, he wore *pink* of all the colors. Why? I have no freaking clue, other than he's a silly guy. Tim wore a green wig with various other colors, and Eli had a blue wig. They have photos on their Facebook page, the link to it is to the left in my Links area.

I knew about The Brute Squad - I used to work with the Bassist's mother eons ago - but never saw them live. They are *TALENTED* to say the least. They do a lot of covers, from Led Zeppelin to Black Sabbath and a few newer ones. I really enjoyed their performance.

Flesh Cauldron was up on deck third. As always their thrash metal rocked the house despite a very thin crowd at this point. 

Lastly, Dirt Stache took the stage and they were dressed as bananas. Adam, Eli and I thought that was a creative way to end the night. They are now including lyrics in their songs, which makes things even more fun - they never used to do a lot of lyrics in the past. They are a highly entertaining duo, and so much fun. It was the perfect way to end the night. 

I did dress up, using my two favorite colors - purple and black - as a color theme. As I joked to everyone, I didn't really dress up, I "removed the mask". A lot of people thought that was funny.

WRITING UPDATE:

I have had a few problems getting into one of the three WIPs I am bouncing between at the moment, but after some time to mull over things, I decided the right way to get "Fourteen" off of the ground was do the entire story, starting with the backstory. I'll be then culling it back to just the "present time" after it's done.

I've been having problems figuring out just *how* to have the characters meet up in present day, which leads them into things, and everything else. So I'm telling myself the entire thing first, and pantsing it. Hopefully it'll work out to be awesome like the one rewrite did. 

"Fourteen" is the companion story to one of my finished drafts. Which one, I'm not saying just yet. I'm not even sure I can get into it yet, and I'd rather not disappoint anyone if this one is never finished. I have been writing in it on and off, despite being exhausted from my old pal "Iron Deficiency Anemia" returning. I'm determined to get back into writing and be immersed into another story sometime soon. I'm stubborn enough to "Make it so" as Captain Jean Luc Picard of Star Trek the Next Generation would say. 

I have a lot on the go right now, not just writing, real life things, so I'll update y'all when I can.

Have a great Halloween everyone, and if you celebrate it, Blessed Samhain to all of my pagan pals and readers. Namaste!

I leave y'all with photos from Halloween Havoc.

Tim from Whom Gods Destroy.

Eli of Whom Gods Destroy.

Adam and Eli of Whom Gods Destroy. Adam is being a goof again.

Whom Gods Destroy during their performance.

Our pal Patti (left) and her husband.

The Brute Squad.

Various audience members.

Flesh Cauldron.

Dirt Stache.

Eli and Adam from Whom Gods Destroy.

Who is this silly little Witchy Rocker Chick? LOL

Finally, video from the night - Whom Gods Destroy playing "Higher Planes" from their 2007 demo, one of my favorite songs.

"God Invented Days Like This for Drinkin'"....

HAPPY 149th BIRTHDAY CANADA!!!

Credit: FirstCovers.com

July 1, 1867: Under Her Royal Majesty, Queen Victoria, taken from the British North American Act...

"We do ordain, declare, and command that on and after the First day of July, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-seven, the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, shall form and be One Dominion, under the name of Canada."

Henceforth, my gorgeous nation was born, and my amazing province of NOVA SCOTIA was one of the original four provinces.

Yes, I love my nation, and I'm proud to be Canadian!

Since summer is now official going, a quick update about Son...

He has graduated into Junior High school (Grade 6 on his campus) with ALL As and Bs, including an A in his most hated subject, French.

I kid y'all not. An A in FRENCH of all subjects.

Baffling, eh? LOL 

I think my best pal fainted when she read that in Facebook the other day!

He had a fantastic last day of elementary school. He played with his friends, raised hell with his classmates and was awarded "Classroom Greeter" award for his sunshine every morning.

It was made even more bittersweet knowing he wasn't the only one moving on.

His old resource teacher, Mr. R, is leaving the school.. Moving upwards in the system. Mr. R has been promoted to Principal of my old elementary school. 

The students at PRCE are VERY lucky. Mr. R is a fantastic teacher, and a really nice guy all around. They are going to thrive with him as Principal.

As sad as seeing him leave the campus was, maybe it's best if he's not there. Son won't look for him as much, and will probably have an easier time adjusting to the new building with NEW teachers, and of course, a new Resource Teacher. 

We're gearing up for the start of school even though Summer Vacation has barely started... 11 weeks can go by so damn fast. Thank heavens we already have a good chunk of his school supply list purchased already - leftovers from Grade 5. LOL

Plans include visiting my mother in law, hopefully seeing my mother a few times, hanging out with Hubby's brothers and Tim (at live music shows and other places), trips to our favorite beach, day trips to our favorite spots in the western half of the province, and other fun things.

I can't remember if I posted this on the blog or not for my readers, but here's something to make you laugh... Hubby was changing the litterbox last week and she kept making dives for the door. Amber wasn't impressed when I held her on her back with her paws up in the air and her tummy exposed for KISSES!!! She looked so disgusted I *had* to grab my phone and snap a photo of it! 

Who's a PO'ed puddy tat?? LOL Hope it made you smile!

I leave y'all with the FIRST OFFICIAL VIDEO from local classic metal band WHOM GODS DESTROY, the hard rock version of their country song, "God Invented Days Like This For Drinkin'"... A perfect anthem for those hot, long summer weekends. Enjoy!!!!!

Have a fun and safe LONG WEEKEND EVERYONE! Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians, and Happy 4th of July to my American friends and family! (I am part American for the record, my great grandmother was born in BOSTON of all the places!)...

Lightening Strikes My Hometown...

June 24, 2016.....

"Lightening Leather", Flesh Cauldron's newest album, is finally released.

Troubled Waters holds a celebratory live music show at the Michelin Social and Athletics Club in their hometown of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. 

It turned out to be a great lineup, despite only TWO bands being able to perform that night. Flesh Cauldron was the featured band, with Whom Gods Destroy opening for them.

Yours truly was there, of course, and right at the front of the small gathering to cheer on her brothers and Tim, and to congratulate Ovie and Chris of Flesh Cauldron on the release of their new album. 

WGD's set didn't start until about 8 or so, but it was a great set. Songs included "She May Be Evil", "Higher Planes" and of course, the hard rock version of their country song, "God Invented Days Like This for Drinkin'". Their next album is due to be released sometime later this year, or maybe sometime next year. I'm not sure on that, I'll have to talk to the guys about how their post production is coming along. Hopefully it's soon. It's been five years since "Signs of Life" was released. We fans need new music, dammit!! LOL 

I am now glad I took my regular camera with me as backup, because the battery on the "small" tablet happened to croak just as WGD's set was wrapping up.

Hence why Flesh Cauldron's set wasn't on video on my end, and their pictures look different than WGD's. 

Anyway, their set was perfect. You couldn't have gotten a better thrash metal performance. 

Before Ovie and Chris can say they weren't perfect, but the "drummer" was, yes, you two *WERE* perfect performance wise that night. 

The damn drummer did mess up because it didn't cue y'all to start playing at one point. 

Which is pretty bad considering it's a bloody iPod. 

Yeah. LOL

I did get a copy of "Lightening Leather" to enjoy at home, even though I've heard most of the songs on the album at previous live shows, and at "Lightening Strikes". It's damn  good. I liked it even if I'm not a huge fan of thrash metal - Flesh Cauldron is my favorite thrash metal band after all. 

There *is* a little surprise at the very end of the last track on the CD, "Face the Destroyer". You get some dead air for a minute or so between the end of the music and the surprise, but do keep going. What's there is more than worth it! 

Photos from Friday night:

Adam Bondarenko, lead singer and drummer for WHOM GODS DESTROY.

Adam and Eli Bondarenko -bassist for Whom Gods Destroy- during their setup.

WHOM GODS DESTROY - Tim Gaudet (guitars, backup vocals, spokesperson), Adam Bondarenko (vocals, drums) and Eli Bondarenko (bass) - during their performance.

FLESH CAULDRON on the RIGHT: Ovie (vocals, guitar) in the foreground, and Chris Kendall (bass, backup vocals) in the background.

WGD Merchandise! I currently have all three versions of their tee shirts, including two of the black logo ones (on the right). 

Flesh Cauldron (Ovie and Chris), during set up.

Adam Bondarenko and Eli Bondarenko of WHOM GODS DESTROY.

FLESH CAULDRON during their performance.

All in all it was a great night, filled with lots of laughs, good times, and of course, great music. I can't wait for the next live show at the MSAC in town. Anything hosted by Troubled Waters is kick ass, they always seem to get the best bands around. 

Here's a link to the video of WGD's performance. It kicked ass as always.

WGD @ MSAC June 24 2016

On a closing note, one of our friends said "Everyone has porn on their phones!"

I don't. I don't have any porn videos or pics on my tablets...

Oh wait, maybe I do.........

Erotic e-books count as porn, right? 

So yeah, I guess I do have porn on my tablets after all. 

Hey, I'm a romance writer... I'm SUPPOSED to have stuff like that on my devices, etc, right?

Right??? *looks innocent*

Have a great week, everyone!

The Final Countdown...

It's the final countdown...

Countdown to summer - two days away - countdown to Father's Day - Tomorrow, and lastly, the countdown to Son's last day in Grade Five....

Which also means his last day in Elementary school.

Thursday. Thursday, June 23rd is the last day Son will be an elementary school student, he will be graduating from the little school into Junior High and the "Big School" on June 29th. 

The countdown to saying goodbye to his elementary school autism team has begun too.

Some members like Cathy from the Autism Centre will be traveling with us to the next level, so will Barb from Assistive Technology, but we will leave his current Resource Teacher, the Vice Principal, and lastly his Teacher's Aide behind as he takes a giant leap from one level to the next. 

I had my first Transition Meeting with the Grade Six team on June 7th... They all seem like great people and some of them can not wait to get Son in their class! The Junior High Resource Teacher is very excited to be teaching Son this coming fall, and can't wait for summer to get over. She's already making plans for his time with her, and even has ideas on ways to help him if he's in the middle of a "stuck" episode (where he can't move on to the next activity), and get him even more interested in scholar pursuits. She's high energy, which is what Son needs. 

I hadn't met the Grade Six teachers yet but I like them. One even asked me if we can get some instrumental heavy metal songs for his reading time, because she puts "yoga music" to help the kids concentrate on their reading... Which would set Son off. He HATES anything other than heavy metal and rock - yes, that is MY influence, OOPS! (NOT!) -  so we're now looking at instrumental pieces by Disturbed and other bands he likes so he can listen to it on his school tablet with the ear phones and not have to worry about him taking a meltdown.

What really made me happy was meeting one of the TA's for Grade Six. She's a former school mate of mine! She was a year ahead of me in school, but her brother and I were in the same grade from Primary upwards... And BOTH of her parents taught me. Her mom was my grade 4 teacher, and her dad was my grade 5 teacher. I loved both of them, and they are two of my favorite all time teachers to this day. I wish either or both of them were still teaching now, so there was a chance Son would be lucky enough to be in one of their classes........... It was a relief knowing I already know one of the TAs somewhat (it's been years since I saw her, but we did recognize each other!).... That reassures me Son is in AWESOME hands, even though Mrs. T won't be with him next year - she helps out with Elementary students only (poo! :( )... However, he's allowed visiting her once in a while at the Little School, same goes for all of his old teachers over there. 

Orientation night for ALL parents and students entering the junior high - grade six for our school, grade 7 for the other feeder schools - was on June 13th. We didn't go on the tour because Son already knows where most things are over at the big school - he takes Music, sometimes Gym class, and eats lunch in the Cafeteria there - and we will be getting a personalized tour the day before school opens in September. It was the Resource Teacher's idea, and I'm glad she asked about it, because if she hadn't, I was going to. LOL 

As for Son, he's pretty excited about moving forward... Although I don't think it's really sunk in to his brain what's really going on this coming fall just yet. I don't think it will until he's actually *there* in the classroom on the first day of school, in a new building with new teachers, a new TA, and new faces from the Grade 7 wing staring back at him. I think it'll sink in then and we'll have a few really rough spots.

I hope not. I want him to enjoy his school years. I hated mine, because I was the fat girl and bullied from Primary to my graduating year.

I'm just grateful he's only moving from one building to another on the same campus. When I started junior high - ironically at the same school complex, but another building, the current building was built in 1997, I graduated into high school in the late 80s - I had been at one of the feeder schools, and my class was only 30 students, compared to the 50 plus that had come from the elementary end of the complex. 

He already knows the majority of students that will be in Junior High this coming fall, thank heavens.... Our neighbor's daughter will be there, she's in Grade 8 this coming year, she and her friends were always good with Son, probably because they knew he needed help with some things, and they are great kids. I thank my lucky star that she's still there, and will be for Son's first two years of Junior high.

Yeah, busy times. I hope things go smoothly. Wish us luck! :) 

So........ I've been doing more work on an older manuscript that was started a couple of years ago, but never finished. "Away to Me" kind of took over the brain halfway through writing this one manuscript, so it was set aside. 

Although it's been on my mind a LOT, I really didn't think I'd ever finish it. Well, I've looked at it, did a lot of revisions, and I'm considering MORE once school starts up again in the fall. I may rewrite it - or the premise of it at least - or I may leave it as is but just edit and do a LOT of revisions and polishing to get it "just right". 

Peapod and I have been discussing things in regard to it, and although I'm not "overcome" by this one again, just looking at it is good enough for me. It goes to show I'm not dead in the water with the writing, and it shows that maybe "Away to Me" and "Hearts Remembering" will not be the only stories I write. I hope I can write again anyway..... If not, I may wind up shooting someone..... 

It's also countdown to "TWO YEARS SMOKE FREE"... Today marks ONE YEAR, ELEVEN MONTHS SMOKE FREE! :) My reward is going to see LIVE MUSIC thanks to Troubled Waters, they are holding an event in town again on the 24th. It's a release party for Flesh Cauldron's album "Lightening Leather", and it features them, WHOM GODS DESTROY and other local metal bands. 

Come on, y'all KNOW I can't resist live metal music, especially if Whom Gods Destroy is playing! LOL 

Can't wait!

Have a great weekend everyone! I leave you with photos of Amber, lazying in the sunlight on top of my monitor. 

*waves* 

The Grass Has 'Riz....

Another month has passed, and things are changing again...

It's hard to believe we are almost through yet another school year, and this time, we will be saying good bye to a very special group of people. 

Son will be graduating from elementary school this year, and going to junior high/middle school in the fall. Students at the school's complex graduate after grade five, while other feeder schools tend to go until grade six. 

Sad to say we will be saying good bye to Son's elementary school team, and one member has been on it since the beginning in 2010, his resources teacher, Mr. R. Mr. R has not been there just for Son, but for Hubby and I as well. He's been a great source of support, knowledge, and wisdom. He's been more than a teacher to Son, he's been his friend.

It's not like Son will be leaving the complex completely though. He's just moving on to the junior high building, and has already asked if he can visit his former teachers and his pals in the elementary end of the school. I think it would be good for him to do that, it would make the transition into a different building a little easier for him, even though he's already taking classes like Music over there, and eating lunch in the cafeteria.

The month of June will comprise of an orientation for parents of students entering Grades 6 and 7 - which I hope includes a tour of the Grade 6 wing in the school; as well as a Transition Meeting for me where I meet all of Son's Grade 6 teachers, the Principal, and any new members of his Mainstreaming Education Team; and his Grade 6 orientation. 

Yeah, it's going to be a wacky month. 

This weekend is Son's 12th birthday, and he's asking for Star Wars stuff. I'm so proud. *smug grin* 

With summer on the way, that means warmer weather and BUGS. We just had the peak of black fly season last weekend, the Victoria Day weekend, and as they start to go away (thank heavens), I'm seeing more mosquitoes around. Yuck all around.

But that means the flowers are blooming, and a lot of trees are in full blossom. I've been snapping photos of various trees and shrubs as spring has progressed.

I do have a new camera, well new to me at least. It was given to me by my longtime pal and corgi addict, D. It's a gorgeous camera and takes great photos, see for yourself....

The last two are of apple blossoms on a tree near Son's morning bus stop. Aren't they pretty?

I've also been capturing Miss Amber on "film", just because....

She's laying on her TARDIS blanket in the first photo, on my son's lap in the last two. Yes, her fur is really that glossy!

My exercise regime continues, even with me suffering from one hell of a chest cold (thanks to Son for giving it to me, grumble!). My pal D and I decided the bugs were too bad last week to go for our four mile trek outdoors again, so we decided to check out an indoor track at a local sports complex. 

It was awesome. I did a full five laps - which is a kilometer, one lap is about 209 meters - and she did a full seven laps, a whole mile, or 1.6 km approximately. No bugs, climate controlled, and best of all, we didn't have to cross the Fisherman's Memorial Highway (also known as Provincial Highway #103) to get to the road with the beaver dam. 

It was nice to be able to take a walk without worrying if I was going to be inhaling flies...

I've noticed a few things, like how I'm able to go for much longer without needing to rest or even getting winded... And the other day, the bus came very early. I wasn't even outside yet! I ran out of the house and to the bus stop in record time, about 300 yards from our driveway, all without breaking a sweat or getting winded. My only problem was that I'm big busted, and well, things were bouncing a lot. I think I'm going to have to invest in a proper sports bra if I ever take up jogging or running... It was NOT pretty!

I'm going to be going back to that track again, either by myself, with D and her mom, or with Son. He's been to the complex several times with the school and he loves the walk and run track. 

I've been doing a few exercises writing wise too, nothing that actually goes into a story. This is to get my mind into the mindset of writing again, as well as see how far my creativity can go. So far, it's not easy but hey, I've been sick and I'm now just starting to feel well enough to try again. 

When I'm not doing exercises for writing, I'm reading. A LOT! I've read two more books on the Kindle App for the tablets, and I'm going to get MORE when we get somewhere with Wifi, hopefully this weekend.

I also have two *new* Star Wars books, one of the "Legends" and one of the new canon books, it was released last year just before "The Force Awakens" hit theaters. I haven't finished the Legends one yet, but the other one was an immediate hook, and I finished it the day it came in the mail from Amazon. Yeah. Leave it to me to read something that quickly!

I think I'm going to get a few of the SW Legends books on Kindle, the ones I haven't read yet... Or I may just get the actual books. I haven't decided yet. 

I leave you with the newest music video from Whom Gods Destroy, the hard rock version of their country song, "God Made Days Like This for Drinkin'". Enjoy, and have a great weekend everyone!