As the years have passed, however, I have discovered how lonely this way of life can be at times. It can be even more lonely as a writer. When I was a wee lass, I decided to write, edit, print, publish, and market my own books all by myself, to satisfy my "introvertedness." I do not recommend this. This is not a smart idea. This is a stupid idea.  Luckily, I've come to my senses. I now see how important it is, how wonderful it is, to seek the help of others, and to help them in return. Recently, I have come in contact with a few authors and soon-to-be-authors, and to my great surprise and joy, I was not rejected, as I had feared. Not only have I been welcomed with open arms, I have been supported, encouraged, and helped by every person with whom I have come in contact. The clean romance community is truly wonderful, readers and authors alike, and I am so blessed to be a part of it! And despite my "introvertedness," I find myself becoming friends with fellow authors, wanting to spend time with them, enjoying their novels, and loving the moments I connect with them. Now all I need to do is get off my couch and talk to more people...And "therein lies the rub"! 
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Thanks so much for taking this poll! I'll post the results as soon as they are available.  When I write too often, my brain slowly stops working, so every once in a while, I take a little downtime by watching my favorite period dramas. So, here, for your reading (or should I say, "viewing"?) pleasure, is my top ten list.
Another list of top ten favorites done. What are some of your favorite period dramas? Sidenote: I just joined Instagram! Click HERE to follow me and see a fun array of photos about me, Cornwall, the Regency Era, and more! :)
Recently, I've been on a Regency kick. And when I say recently, I mean the past twenty years. My family must know my love for the era (or I just talk about it incessantly), because I received some amazing, Regency-centered gifts for my birthday last week!
My sister knows me quite well, also, as she gifted me a beautiful feather fountain pen. I use it when I want to feel like I'm Jane Austen writing a story. Then I realize it's much faster to use a laptop...so I use the feather pen then to practice my signature, and that works much better.
I love September! When the cold months of January through March have passed by, and the pretty, spring weather of April and May have moved on, and the stifling, sweaty summer has dissipated, so begins my favorite time of the year!
October is when all my fun fall festivities begin. (See My Top Ten Favorite Autumn Activities post.) I love the pumpkins, the harvesting, the movies, the costumes, the trick-or-treating, and the fall weather. November holds some fun Thanksgiving traditions, including eating delicious pumpkin pie and my favorite—cold, leftover turkey on rolls. Mmm!  December. Do I need to even say anything about this month? I love Christmas, and you better believe I celebrate ALL. MONTH. LONG. However, I will say, I don’t start listening to Christmas music, nor do I decorate, until AFTER Thanksgiving. (Though I won’t judge you if you do differently.)
Yep, I am so ready for the start of this holiday season. I think I’ll go celebrate by making some hot chocolate while pretending it still isn’t 90 °F outside. Bottoms up! To celebrate the nearing of my favorite season, I compiled a fun list of my top ten favorite things to do in the fall, complete with pictures! What are your favorite things to do during this beautiful season?
In honor of all those starting the new school year, and in celebration that I no longer have school myself, I decided to write my list of top ten favorite school classes.  My sister and I walking to elementary school together. 10. Elements of Grammar - I took this in college, and honestly, it was the greatest source of information I ever received for the technical aspect of my writing. 9. Greek and Latin Elements of Words - We had to memorize over 100 words and definitions a week, and the teacher was CRAZY, but his passion made this one of the most interesting classes I have ever taken. 8. Fit for Life - This is ridiculous that this made my top ten because of how absolutely "unfit" I am, but we were able to go bowling and play sports, so it was fun! 7. AP Biology - (Don't laugh at this, Ali) This made the list purely because I guffaw each time I think about how absurd I was thinking I could actually pass it. Luckily I transferred out, and luckily my friend did, as well, so I didn't feel like a total failure. 6. Infancy and Early Childhood Education - I minored in FCHD in college and loved learning about the development of children. Very helpful as a mother, now! 5. Yearbook - My favorite thing about this? Basically having two class hours spending time with my good friends. Of course it wasn't all fun and games...only during our parties. 4. Photoshop - I always wanted to learn how to use Photoshop, so I was excited to take this course. Spending an entire class playing around with photos was awesome. 3. Poetry - All of the poetry classes I took were great, but my favorite was the Advanced course with Michael Sowder. He was one of my favorite professors. 2. Creative Writing - The first class I took in creative writing was in high school. It was the perfect foundation for my writing in college! 1. Shakespeare - I took a course fully dedicated to the Bard, and I loved delving into his plays and sonnets. I wish I could take the class again! There you have it! Comment below and share your own favorite classes!
Recently, I’ve seen a few Clean Romance authors share their writing spaces with their followers, so I thought it would be fun to do the same. Then I realized that I currently have no writing space…not a specific space, anyway, and certainly not as nice as some of the ones I’ve seen.
CD/DVD Drive Snapped Off I gave up fixing this when a small flame burst forth from the opening. Letters Scraped Off of Keyboard Can’t blame the kids for this one. Apparently, I use the letters ‘e,’ ‘s,’ ‘d,’ ‘n,’ ‘m,’ and ‘v’ a lot. Faulty Spacebar and 'S' Keys Try writing about “Mr-._-ander-_-eeing_the_-ea,_walking_in_the _-and,_and _-oiling_her_-lipper-" without spaces and the letter 's.' Volume Raising and Lowering Randomly This is super fun, especially while watching Netflix. Faulty Headphone Jack The sound likes to snap, crackle, and pop...Oh, and it only works in one ear. Screen Unhinged Did you know a screen can come deattached from the back of a laptop and still work? I didn’t. Also, binder clips work great keeping it together. See below. Screen Lowering on One Side Sometimes, I have to tilt my head to see the screen straight on. It also falls every so often, like a head flopping with an unsupportive neck. Broken Charger Only works when pressed hard or on its side. Again, see below.
So there you have it. Only eight things wrong with this stalwart machine. I did promise my husband I wouldn't deliberately break it further...but we'll see how much longer I last. I'll be sure to keep you posted.
Until then, happy sideways-writing. First. I LOVE movies. LOVE THEM. Second, I tried to make a simple list of my top ten favorite movies, but as my list grew and grew, I realized that was near impossible. So I’m simplifying things and doing my list of favorite Disney movies, animated or almost-animated. (If I start to add in Star Wars or Marvel or everything else Disney has done or owns or will own, things will be too complicated again.) So. Here’s my list, number one being my favorite!  10. Emperor’s New Groove – My sister and I watched this constantly as children, and without fail, we would laugh until we couldn’t breathe and tears were rolling down our cheeks every time that cat falls and screams and then launches into the air and screams again. We loved it!  9. Lady and the Tramp – I mostly loved this because of the cute little puppies at the end of the movie.  8.) Robin Hood – My sister and I had the biggest crush on that manly fox.  7.) Enchanted – This counts as half-animated and is the funniest show! I hope the upcoming sequel doesn’t disappoint...  6.) Toy Story – I’m not choosing which one is the best. They’re all great! Love Tom Hanks’ and Tim Allen’s voices in them.  5.) Pocahontas – She was my favorite Disney Princess growing up. I watched it recently for the first time since I was a child and was surprised at the heart-wrenching ending. The wind tells her to go!! Horrible.  4.) Mary Poppins – I love Julie Andrews. Everything about this film is perfection. So funny and timeless.  3.) Cinderella (Live-Action) – That dress. What I wouldn’t give to wear that dress.  2.) Tangled – Still a favorite. So romantic. So sweet. Flynn Ryder is the best.  1.) Moana – This is still a surprise to me that this is my favorite. For some reason, this movie speaks to me. Her love of the ocean, being torn between her home and the wide open waters. I absolutely love it. And you better believe that I sing along to every word each time my kids “make” me listen to the music! There you have it! What is your list of top ten favorite animated (or almost) Disney movies? I’d love to know!
 I think most of us have read books that have had significant impacts on our lives, whether for good or bad, especially the books we read when we were younger. Today, I decided to compile a small (and I mean small) list of books that I loved when I was younger, as well as books that were most definitely not for me. The first book that always comes to mind when I think of what I read as a child would have to be “Charlotte’s Rose” by A. E. Cannon. I loved that book so much that I based a small book I had to write in my history class off of it. I loved the cute main character and how strong she was throughout the book. I also remember this as one of the first novels I read that had a taste of romance to it. I’m afraid my obsession for romance novels only increased from that point on. Side note, I wrote the author an email once, telling her I loved her book and that I loved to write, and she wrote me back, telling me to never give up on writing. I have never forgotten her advice, nor how I felt to have an actual author write me back!  When I grew older, I read “Pride & Prejudice.” As you may know due to my Regency romance novels, this book had a huge impact on me. I watched the first adaptation of the novel (the one with Laurence Olivier) when I was maybe nine. Though I still enjoy the movie, I later came to discover how inaccurate it is in relation to the novel and the history of the Regency Era. They had a great, annoying Mrs. Bennett, though so that was spot on, at least! Nothing compares to Jane Austen’s writing, though, no matter how accurate the film adaptation!  I also remember really enjoying “This Just In” by Kerry Blair. At the time, I had a crush on my math teacher who reminded me of the hero of the novel, so that may have been why I enjoyed the book so much… You know how that goes! I laughed and sighed with the romance all the way throughout the book, and I renewed it multiple times from the library (because, you know, eBooks didn’t really exist then). And then there were the books I cringed while reading. They aren’t horrible books, many of my friends actually enjoyed them, but they were just not for me. Maybe it was because I was forced--sorry, required to read them in school. Or maybe it was because I love happy endings and happy middles (not ALL happy. Just enough to keep me motivated), and these books were not happy. In my opinion, anyway.  being"1984". That book. Did I already mention I like happy endings? Because I like happy endings. And this book is not happy. For that reason, and many others, it was very difficult for me to get through, and if I’m being honest, I skimmed, if not skipped, more than half of it. (Sorry, Miss Merrell!) However, I did manage to pass my AP Lit test thanks to a question that applied perfectly to the book, so I suppose it wasn’t totally worthless, my reading it, after all.  "Watership Down" was another novel I wasn’t too thrilled with while reading it. I read it so long ago that I don’t remember much, but I DO remember it took me all summer to read (“required” again to read it for the coming school year), and it was rather depressing. They had us watch a clip of the movie, as well, and that scarred me forever.
So there you have it! Now I want to hear from you! What are your favorite or not-so-favorite novels that changed you as a person? Comment below or shoot me an email! |
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