Madness, as usual... plus a contest!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

         I hope all are having a safe but scary and happy Halloween.  I must apologize for my long absence.  I've tried to at least stay on top of posting new blogfests and contests, but it's been difficult.  Just a work thing, really.  My ship's getting ready for the big 'ol Insurv (HUGE inspection that reports to Congress) so we've been working 6-7 days a week with lots of long hours, late days, and hard manual labor.

        If you wanna know what it's like, just go to your place of work and start doing all the building maintenance and janitorial work yourself on top of your normal workload.  Don't forget you'll also have to fix your own computers, copy machines, telephones and every other electronic device around because they're not under warranty and your boss doesn't have the money to pay for technicians to fix it.  Oh yeah, he also doesn't have money for supplies for all this work, so you'll have to buy you're own grinders, sanders, tape, paint brushes and rollers, and you'll have to borrow the primer and paint from someone else, too.  Quite a bit of madness going on, so right up the Halloween alley!

        Speaking of MADNESS, I've decided it's about darn time for a contest around here.  I haven't had one yet, and since I've gotten up to over 160 lovely Junkie followers, I'd like to host one.  So here's the deal.  I'm giving away some books.  Now, I realized that some of you guys aren't writers, some aren't into romance, and some may not read much at all, so I've got up for grabs an eclectic list of brand-spankin' new books for the winners to choose from.  And all you have to do is come up with some good words because we're going to fill in a Mad Lib!

        Send me your word choices by November 15 in the comments or via email, and I'll enter you into the contest.  I'll pick two winners to choose a couple books each from the selection.  Winners will be chosen based on how ridiculously funny their Mad Lib turns out.  I'd love more new followers and some publicity for the contest, and it's always appreciated, but it's not a requirement.  If you like my blog and content, please do follow.  I'll post winners and winning Mad Libs by November 17.  If I get a big enough response or my friends and I have trouble deciding who's winning, I'll probably pick more winners :)

So here's the words we need to finish the Mad Lib:

1)  Adjective
2)  Verb ending in -ed
3)  Plural Noun
4)  Liquid
5)  Plural Noun
6)  Famous Person
7)  Place
8)  Occupation
9)   Noun
10) Nationality
11) Opposite Sex Celebrity
12) Noun
13) Opposite Sex Friend
14) Plural Noun
15) Number
16) Adjective

 Oh yeah...




For you movie and TV lovers, I also have Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead and Burn Notice: The Giveaway.  There'll be posts to come regarding NaNoWriMo (yes, I'm gonna do it!) and some big contests from other blogs and such coming soon.  Thanks everyone for sticking around.  Also, if you know anyone who likes to beta read or is looking for a crit partner for romance, please send them my way.  I'm actively looking for some critters!

Are You Pushing Yourself Too Hard?

Yes, darnit, I know I posted already today, but I read this article at The Huffington Post, and I had to share it with everyone.  I see this every day in my job.  I see this all around me, even in our personal lives.  Do we drive ourselves to burnout?  Is our push for efficiency actually resulting in loss of productivity?  I think yes.  In my opinion, we should all take a little more time to enjoy the one life we get to live, and then maybe the time we spend working will result in higher quality of work. 

I almost never get enough sleep.  Rarely more than five or six hours.  My coworkers and I all work 70-90 hours per week, and I'm not talking sitting at a desk work (though that can be just as tiring and often more mentally stressful).  This doesn't count any work we have on the side.  How can anyone expect productivity in this situation?

I'm interested to hear everyone else's take on this.  Are you overworked, overstressed and underslept?  What do you do to rest and reenergize before heading back to the grindstone?

Sunny Side Up Today

Whew!  What a crazy last couple of weeks it’s been, thus why I’ve been blogone lately.  I’ve decided early this morning that the mood of the day shall be “optimistic.”  Why?  Because I need a little of it to keep my sanity!  And truly, if I don’t make myself look at the bright side every once in a while, I’ll spiral down into a deep pit in which I only write horror where the good guys all die at the end and the demons inherit the earth.

First on my optimism agenda, I had to address my job.  It’s only natural considering I live where I work.  I have to admit it can be pretty awesome.  Just check out the pic.  We shot over 220 rounds from our 5” gun the week we went out to sea.  Makes me proud--*tear* love you Combat Systems/Weps!  You’ll have to check out my Facebook photos for last year’s missile shoot, and any true patriot will have even the hairs at the nape of their neck saluting at that sight.  Sometimes I’m so busy complaining, I forget to remember I could never have lasted thirteen years of this without being strongly patriotic. ‘Nuff said here.

Next, my home-purchasing endeavors are beginning to pay off.  Didn't get the house we first offered on, but the second was a winner.  I am more than happy to run with it as I realized last week that it had been my #1 pick from the listings my husband sent me.  Now, if only I could actually see the home before I buy it...  Nope, not likely.  But I did see lots of great pics--5brm/3ba with a tree swing, playhouse, garden area, fire pit.  Yep, definitely something to be optimistic about.

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of blog posts about perseverance and optimism when it comes to writing, and I’m really glad I’ve come across these posts because trying to become a published author is a somewhat discouraging business by nature.  The authors write from a personal place and therefore take rejection personally at times.  I really needed to see how much work is involved in crafting and marketing a worthy piece of literature.

And after much research, I’ve also concluded that agents, editors and publishers are not truly evil, but are actually on our side.  They are the buffer between the writers and the cold, hard truth of economics and technology.  They do the best they can with the resources they have.  And in return, we’ll spill our blood and guts to write as close to perfection as a writer can call it (since we all know we’re never done with our work).  Maybe, just maybe, if I learn all this at the front end, it won’t take me three years to get an agent, and that, my friends, is optimism!

So I’ve shared what I’m optimistic about.  Now, where has the optimism bug bitten you?