Tips, Tricks and Tales - A Muse's Take on Time Management by Vanessa Wright

“What time management?” I asked this as I rushed around like a headless chicken. 
“Dear, you have to stop and take a deep, cleansing breath,” the muse said as she looked at me over her horn rimmed spectacles. I have no idea where she got them, nor do I care, right now, but truth be told she looks like an eccentric old biddy. Would I say this out loud? Not a chance; I loved my life as hectic as it seems to be. And was she now into meditation or yoga, I wondered? She seemed spectacularly serene amidst my running, fluttering and flapping.

“I have to order next month’s movies and update the list of books I currently have on the system and do the housework and garden and STILL find time to write three novels this year and edit an anthology!”

“Spreading yourself a little thin dear? Crazy does not look good on you, you know.”

I realised that they would soon be scraping me off the walls with a spatula if I didn’t take the time to set up some sort of time schedule. I envisioned brawny nurses dragging me away in a straight jacket. No, that would certainly not do! Besides which I was getting cranky and angry at everything. The prime example being when I got to work on Monday and found that one of my employees had decided that playing with a candle at the ripe age of 21 was certainly a fun thing to do. More fun could be had if you dripped the hot wax down the toilet bowl and never cleaned it. Enter me! My head explodes and wraps itself around the cell phone were it sits sending the following message: “Who the &*((^ threw hot wax down the toilet bowl, come in and clean it on the double! Who do you think I am? Your maid?”

“Crazy is as crazy does,” said the serene muse.

I was tempted to throw a few choice words at her, but realised that I would never be able to break through her calm facade. I turned on my laptop, opened Excel and made a spreadsheet in which I spread myself around thinly. All that remained was to see if I could stick to it. I’m not known for my planning and when the muse shows up everything goes to hell anyway and I have to follow her down the yellow brick road.

Wish me luck, maybe just maybe I might be able to manage my time better in the future!

Vanessa Wright

She is a 47 year old visual artist, author, mom and pug breeder. Two of her Afrikaans short stories have recently been published in My kort vir jou sop available on www.amazon.com as an e-book and soon to be released in soft cover. She has taken part in Nanowromo 2012 and 2013 and reached the target on day 26. She has also published a collection of short stories on Smashwords, titled Twisted. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/361196. She has written the winning Christmas story 2013 http://awritersgallery.wordpress.com/2013/12/22/winner-for-the-christmas-writers-challenge/

She has her own blog at http://iread1966.wordpress.com, appropriately named Humouring the dark, where the muse has captured many readers’ attention and a book about the character is in the offing. She is also active on Facebook and Twitter and is a member of a writing group. She leads her own book club and is a true bookaholic. Writing has always been her passion, however the timing always seemed incorrect as daily life interrupted more frequently than not. Now, she has decided to go big or go home.

Fantasy Fan Month: Santa Wore Leathers

Fantastic February Blog Tour - The Rise of the Red Shadow

Amazon

Excerpt 

In his shack, Ben woke to the sound of rain. He was pleased to discover that, though they may have 

cared little about the wind, the owners of the plantation knew enough to keep the rain off of their tools. The roof was perhaps the only fully intact part of the entire structure. At least he would be dry. For the most part, anyway. Here and there a gust of wind forced itself through the drafty walls and brought a spritz of water with it. Rather than wake up with a damp blanket, and no doubt catch his death of cold, the old man reluctantly climbed from his cot to shuffle it a bit farther from the wall.

“First thing in the morning, I see where the wind is getting in, and see what I can do to fix it,” he muttered to himself.

Once he was satisfied that he was out of reach of even the most motivated leaks, he rolled himself onto the canvas of the cot and lay his head upon the bundle of cloth that served as a pillow. The instant sleep began to claim him though, a scratch at his door shook him from his doze. For a moment, he dismissed the noise, assuming it was a bit of bramble or an errant tree branch broken free by the wind. When it turned to an insistent hammering on the door, Ben groggily hoisted himself to his feet again.

“What is it? Whoever it is, haven’t you got the sense to stay out of the rain?” he grumbled, removing the brace from the door and easing it open a crack.

Even the whisper of an opening brought a veritable stream of water spattering to the ground by the door. It also brought a sudden pressure as something heaved itself desperately at the opening and scrabbled to get through.

“What in blazes?”

“In! In!” the malthrope squealed, trying his very best to wedge his head through the tiny opening.

“No, no, no! Out you go!” Ben growled, nudging the thing’s nose with his foot as he forced the door shut.

“In you go! In you go!” the creature whined from the other side of the door, ramming against the solid planks with all of the force his spindly frame could muster.

The creature may not have been very large, but he was determined. The rattling had dislodged the brace from where Ben had left it, and as the blind man leaned low to reach for it, one last clash shook the door just enough to rob him of his balance. The old man tumbled down, the door flew open, and the malthrope exploded into the shed. By the time Ben managed to get the door shut and braced again, he was soaked and muttering a fresh batch of profanities from his seemingly bottomless supply of them.

“Where are you, you little devil!?” he hissed.

Author Bio

A native of Bayonne, NJ - the fabled birthplace of George R. R. Martin - Joseph Lallo is an unlikely entry into the world of literature. After a childhood spent daydreaming and reading, he fully intended to pursue a career in the tech sector. He received a Master's Degree in Computer Engineering from NJIT, and subsequently got a job working IT for a large healthcare corporation. Things changed when, in January 2010, his friends finally convinced him to publish the story that had accumulated over the course of a decade of spare time. That story, now known as the Book of Deacon Trilogy, was a surprise hit, and once he got a taste of the world of indie writing, he was hooked. Now he splits his time between crunching numbers at his day job, writing novels at night, and writing articles and reviews for BrainLazy.com, a group blog he helps run. His latest novels are Bypass Gemini and Unstable Prototypes, the first two books of a science fiction series.

Fantastic February Blog Tour - The Hunt for Xanadu

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Twenty-two year old Kelsey Porter has dedicated her life to avenging the death of her parents,murdered in their quest to find the mystical land of Xanadu.

Before she can locate the murderers,she has to discover their motives for the brutal crime and finds herself at the epicenter of a Buddhistmystery as old as time.

With the help of her companion, Detective Desmond Gisborne, she hunts the killers across the globe and discovers a darkness in her spiritual past that tests the very limits of her soul.

Soon she realizes that it is not she who is doing the hunting, but the one being hunted. Kelsey must find a way to survive, while ancient demons attempt to destroy her.

Fantasy Fan Month: Follow Your Fantasy

Fantastic February Blog Tour - Tempest

Amazon

We must overcome and prevail ...

King Raemon of Medeisia is slaughtering tattooed scribes and mages, forcing them into hiding. All marked and those associated with them are destroyed. The people are desperate. Months after challenging Raemon, the marked rebels of Medeisia must rise against their bloodthirsty king or chance being annihilated.

Sixteen year-old Drastona Consta-Mayria is the prophesied  phoenix of peace, desperate to be a leader for her people despite her reservations. Following the lead of a scarred and forgotten prince, Drastona will embark on a journey with an unlikely band of rebels and a dragon across a cursed desert to bring down a king and save a kingdom.

Fantastic February Blog Tour - Tolomay's World and The Pool of Light

NEW ADULT/FANTASY/ROMANCE FANTASY 17+

Amazon links:

Tolomay's World and the Pool of Light 

Tolomay's world and the Mountain of Tegi 

Tolomay's world and the Splitting of the Trunk

Excerpt

“Peace of life,” said the chideman as he poured the blue water from the glass urn into the pool. It was surreal.

“Peace of life.” My response was automatic.

My heart pounded. For thirteen years I’d trained for this. Still I was not ready. The machine’s copper pipes gave off a warm smell that drifted to my nostrils as if precious biscuits were baking in the eating room. The calming scent only made it worse. I was leaving.

On display before every citizen in the community, my bare feet stepped the few inches further to the edge of the pool. Fear haunted my mind. Shivering from head to toe caused my short golden dress to tickle at the tops of my thighs. I brushed away the itch. Goose bumps peppered my arms and legs. I was freezing. For a moment, the massive musics and sounds on the stage overwhelmed me. I was small in comparison to everything here, all present and to this wondrous event.

Through dazed thoughts, my focus returned and I remembered to count to three before placing my foot in the shallow liquid.

With eyes watering, my every heartbeat echoed in my ears. Never again would my father’s eyes look upon me.

Never again would I feel his warm embrace. I would so miss his gentle, loving voice. How would I bear it? I fought my great desire to turn and dart to him, or steal a look as he sat in his chair upon the stage. Instead, I kept my step.

There would not be another last goodbye. We already said it, and he wanted just the one. It would be my greatest honor to him to leave with the dignity, respect, and position he bestowed upon me, to act older than my meager thirteen years. I had to be brave and pave the way for the others, as he had instructed.

The tears nearly choked me as I quietly sniffed them back. I could scarcely see, but chose not to rub the wet away. Everyone would notice. More would only follow and my eyes would be closed soon enough. The time had arrived. This was no longer wholly my choice. I was being led by my duty and so had to control my emotions for these last few seconds.

The immaculate stage held static, causing the miniscule hairs on my head to stand on end. They reached toward the beautiful colored glass of the cathedral roof in the pod community’s grandest room, as if they too wanted to stay. The urge to run, to escape, consumed me, yet I betrayed my heart, followed my learned directions, and kept my course.

No matter the logic and knowledge in my head, nothing had prepared me for this feeling of claws tearing me apart from the inside out. I fought off the nausea.I could not be ill, not in front of the community while representing my father.

The crystal and copper Pool of Light lay before the five of us, with solar panels running from floor to ceiling as the toner’s chorus continued to sing behind us. The brilliant round majesty beneath my feet, only six inches deep, held the key to our futures and to what would become the whole of humanity.We were taking these steps for everyone. Once we left, we could never return home.

Tarron had ordered that we space ourselves just two paces separated, one behind the next. The four older candidates followed behind me, the taste of anticipation mingling with the hum of energy that filled the great room. My mind whirled.

‘Keep walking forward… do not turn around,’ father’s words echoed in my head.

I was horrified. Chills took residence up and down my spine, causing me to shake further. How would my days unfold without him by my side? How could I leave him alone? My heart was dying.

Author Bio

Author M.E. Lorde grew up in the rural community of Victor, NY, surrounded by farms, orchards, vineyards in neighboring towns, and beautiful scenic views of lakes, mountains and canyons. Her great grandmother was Iroquois Indian, whose family was deeply rooted in the Great Seneca Nation, upstate New York. The author’s great-great grandfather, whose family was from Great Britain, was a major contributor toward the ‘Statue of Liberty’s’ pedestal in New York City. A man and a woman from two different worlds met, fell in love and married and a family was torn apart. But alas, life goes on. M.E.’s great grandmother and great grandfather married. An interesting tidbit- at one point they became great friends with and then great friends and confidants with author Zane Grey, who from the early to mid 1900’s wrote dozens of books, many Historical and Western. Rumor has it that you will find the author’s great grandmother in at least one.

An avid reader since childhood (as well as an artist), M.E. has been writing since she could hold a pencil. She wrote and bound her own book by hand at the age of ten. Though books have always been a passion, Lorde put writing on hold to raise four children while working in other fields which include a career in law enforcement as well as a director position at a technical college. With much encouragement from friends and family, she finally decided to follow her real passion and pursue writing full-time. With her newest release of the Tolomay’s World series, she has found her audience, hitting Amazon’s best sellers list in adventure/romance and adventure/fantasy in December of 2013 as #1 Action & Adventure/Romanceand #3 Action & Adventure/Fantasy(Tolomay’s World and The Pool of Light- the first novel in the seven Novel series).

Her time is currently divided between quality time with her daughter, writing, and activities with Indie authors, artists and a civic theatre. She loves to travel and has seen thirty nine states up close and personal, and lived in four. While M.E. enjoys the excitement and bustle of city life, she remains a country girl at heart.

twitter @MichaelLorde
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Tolomay's World Website: http://paperairplanespublis.wix.com/tolomaysworld
Author website: http://paperairplanespublis.wix.com/authormelorde
Blog: http://michaelordeauthor.blogspot.com/
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Publishers website: www.paperairplanespublishing.com