Friday, March 30, 2007

Just finished...

I just finished My Life by Bill Clinton on audiobook. Wow! I've never really been into politics which is kinda funny cause at one time I was really interested in being a lawyer, but this book was really good. I forgot how much I liked Bill Clinton despite all the personal problems he went through while in office. I'm not much for discussing my personal political values so I'm going to stop there and suggest you read it.

Life has been pretty uneventful this week. I got the flu, the icky, sicky flu and was in bed for two days. Now I'm getting back to life and figuring out what I missed. I definitely have missed out on working on my book. You would think with two days at home I would have done a ton with it. But my main concern was how close the bathroom was. When your tummy is reminding you that it can control your life you can't think about the next chapter or where you want your characters to go. Although I did get through some of my research. Plus it gave me a good starting point of where I need to be going.

Mindmapping! This is the best thing in the world. I used to do these in school all the time and I forgot how awesome they are. The one thing I could concentrate on where the ideas that were floating around that needed to be put down. So I got out a blank sheet of paper, thank god I've been keeping all those half used sheets of paper, and started writing down ideas in their little bubbles. Then came in the fun part of drawing all the lines on how everything relates. I think I worked through the problems I was having with my book and how to resolve it. So now that I'm feeling better I really should be working on my book rather than reading and blogging! I'll get there, just need a little time to warm up and get the creative juices flowing. I have a whole hour to devote to writing this morning and I plan on using it!

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Anyone interested...

Okay, now I set it up that anyone can reply to posts without having a blogger account so I need some input. I am wondering if anyone would be interested in an online book club or writer's workshop. I'd rather have them online since I seem to get busier and busier each day. Then we can post and reply whenever fits everyone's schedule. Let me know what you think and if you'd be interested.

Monday, March 26, 2007

weather....

I love the spring, especially when it acts like summer! I have found some great spots in and outside the house to enjoy the weather. Last night I sat on the front porch to read. It was heaven. The only thing that would have made it better is if we had a swing out there! I love swinging or rocking!

Oh, and the second is our bedroom. I hate the futon in there, but it's been great to have the patio door open, sit and just enjoy the weather! I can do so much more sitting here with my books and computer. But either are great!

This weather has been great to think and reorganize for the book. I think I got my problem worked out and from here I can actually get back to writing! Now if I could only find a few more hours in the day to be able to write!

Sunday, March 25, 2007

another one bites the dust

So the reading quest continues....

I finished Danielle Steel's Johnny Angel. It wasn't that bad and definitely a real quick read. I really need to quit reading books that talk about death. At least this one wasn't very dark. This is what I wish The Lovely Bones would have been more like. The Lovely Bones was way to lighthearted for the murder that took place. Johnny Angel on the other hand was sad, but relieving too. There wasn't any bad guys and troubling thoughts running through my head. It was just someone/something trying to make the world a better place.

So now I'm trying to finish I'd Rather be Writing and I get to continue with Stupid White Men by Michael Moore. It's been so nice that I've been able to go out and read on the front porch. It is a great way to start the day. But it's getting late and I better get ready to go to sleep. I've had a short weekend and tomorrow I return to work.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

whatever will happen now??

I am in one of those phases again where I know that something big is going to happen soon. Maybe it's everything with work or just life in general, but something is definitely going on and I can feel it.

Well the reading thing is going very well lately. I just finished listening to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. I think that I'm going to have to actually read it. It actually kind of scared me on how I could relate to the autistic child that was the narrator. I'm scared to admit that I think like he does a lot of the time. Okay, so I understand I can talk to strangers, and that I can actually use a public restroom instead of wetting myself. Sorry, gotta read the book to understand. Oh, and I just finished, I mean minutes ago, The Thirteenth Tale. Now that was a good book. It is definitely one I will have to buy and read again. I need it in my library to remind me that it's good that books don't turn out how you expect them to and something they really shouldn't. After all, is it really fun to read about something and figure it all out before the end. As usual I tried to guess the ending and I couldn't have been more further from the truth. Not only was I wrong about the ending but I was wrong about the middle! Oh, I have so much to learn. The good thing is it makes me think that writing is the best medicine for me. I just wish that one story would come out instead of my brain coming up with five million.

And on to writing..... Blah!!!! LOL! I wish that I could say I am writing like a fool and it's going great but it isn't. I think that I finally realized where I need to expand my story and get it back on track. In fact I think that I'm probably done with it, or at least the skeleton of it. I can feel that I'm missing something though. The last two weeks I have been just thinking about it in my head. I've been trying to get it out of my head so it can breathe on its own and let me know when it's figured itself out, but unfortunately my brain doesn't work that way. But I think that is what the big itch I'm getting has to deal with, or at least partially. I'm sure that there are several things that will be worked out in the next few weeks. Lord knows that I have a life in need of a good fix!

Life will get worked out and tends to work better when I stop trying so damn hard! Guess it's back to the meditation state for me and maybe I'll find that moment of truth yet!

Monday, March 19, 2007

Just a little note

Okay, I'm having a ton of fun with the whole book thing so I promise that I will keep it up to date with what I'm reading and all that fun stuff! Gotta get my writing in one way or another. And this is great practice!

So what am I reading right now! Well for some strange reason I'm trying to read four books at once! Here's what's on my pile:

I'd Rather be Writing by Marcia Golub - this book is awesome about how writers have such a hard time staying on track and in the mood to write. I am totally relating to this right now. I want to write, but there are so many other things going on! LOL!

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - I have heard nothing but great things about this book, but I always pick it up when I'm half asleep already so I only get a few pages in at a time. I got it from the library so I need to finish it this week!

Stupid White Men by Michael Moore - this is our Book Club selection for May! I haven't gotten very far into it but Nick kept asking what was so funny. Seems I kept laughing out loud at everything in the book!

Johnny Angel by Danielle Steel - A resident gave me this book to read. I used to read a lot of Danielle Steel books but after reading the Lord of the Rings I gave up and started reading fantsy and sci-fi. Thought I'd give it a try though since she really liked it! Beside I know that her books are usually a quick read so I should be able to finish this book this week as well! Two books in one week, that'd be good!

Okay, and of course I have an audiobook going for the wonderful commute:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon - I'm starting it today on my drive so I'll let you know how it goes. This is our June Book Club selection. Wow am I getting ahead of myself! LOL!

Well that's it for now! Don't think I need to get anything else on board till I have the time to clear some of these off! I'll keep you posted!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

March 2007 - What I've read so far

Well I figured it might be easier for everyone if I broke it down by month! I've really been on a reading mission!

So far so good, I can't remember everything I've read lately, but I do have a list here somewhere so I'll update it later. Here's the list so far:

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George - I love her books. This one inspired me to write. Everyone hates Cleopatra because of her great history as being a seductress to keep control of Egypt. Margaret had a great way of writing to explain why she could have done what she did. You feel compassion for her and feel like you know her better than your best friend. I love a book where you can fell, see and smell what is going on in a book!

Marley and Me by John Grogan - I wrote about this book already, but it is a really good book.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown - I wrote about this book already. I do think that I will probably try to read it again. I think that I was disappointed because I thought it was too mainstream. I love books that you don't quite know where you are going. This one was way too straight-forward. But it was still good, don't get me wrong!

Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving - you should always travel back to your youth once and awhile. I loved children's stories and this is a great one. I promise someday I'll be sharing this with my kids!

The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life by Steve Leveen - This focused a lot on getting reading in your life by any means possible. He focused a lot on listening to audiobooks since everyone spends a lot of time in the car. Now I always have a couple audiobooks ready to go for the commute.

The Innocent Man by John Grisham - I read this book for Book Club and I really didn't like it. There was too much repitition and guts. This is not a book I would normally read cause it makes me think about a lot of dark things. If you like murder/thriller books it might be up your alley, but I will warn you that it does have a lot of information in it. Not a quick read at all!

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemminway - just finished on audiobook. It was good, very disappointed in the ending. Always looking for that happy ending or rather something that happens. It seemed like he just ran out of things to say. Still was good and I didn't turn it off and start listening to something else so it kept my attention. I just wish I could be a writer that could live in Paris and travel all over Europe when the notion took me!

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - This book really bothered me. I thought it was good until suddenly I just got disturbed by the murderer. He just really bugged me. The scene where he's in his chair and playing with the bones just rubbed me the wrong way and I had to put the book down. I did end up going back to it and finishing it, but I think it was more out of having to for Book Club rather than because I wanted to!

The Odyssey by Homer - I loved this book! I love adventures so this was so up my alley!

A Grief Observed by CS Lewis - not a lot to say about this book, but it was good

On Writing by Stephen King - this was awesome! I might not read much of his fiction, but he has a great way of talking about the craft! Anyone who can talk about his drug habits and drop the f-bomb and make you laugh about it has a place on my book shelf!

I'm sure I'm missing some, but that's what I have for right now! Hope this helps everyone! Have fun reading!

Recommended Reading - Thanks for all your help!

Well it's been almost two months since I went on my quest for the great books to read. Everyone was very helpful so I thought I would share what everyone has shared with me! Sorry guys, I haven't gotten to all of yours, but there is so much to read out there I'm getting to them!

Recommended Reading:
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown - I did read this and did like it. Not sure that I liked it more than The Da Vinci Code, but I think that it was the concept. I was very interested in the historical figures in The Da Vinci Code.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo - There has to be something here or they wouldn't have made all the movies!

Anything by Piers Anthony - haven't gotten this far yet, but it's fantasy so I'm sure I'm going to love it!

Marley and Me by John Grogan - Read this book in a weekend! Great short read, especially for the summer. Watch out, if you have dear pets it's a little sad. I cried and cried!

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks - haven't read yet

The Husband by Dean Koontz - haven't read yet

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - okay this is a favorite. I have read it multiple times and think that the movie is beautiful.

Fall on Your Knees by Ann Marie MacDonald - haven't read yet

Running with Scissors by Augustan Boroughs - haven't read yet

Pillars of Earth by Ken Follet - haven't read yet

Gone for Good by Harlen Cogen - haven't read yet

Tell No One by Harlen Cogen - haven't read yet

At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks - haven't read yet

Three Weeks by Nicholas Sparks - haven't read yet

Fifth Horseman by James Patterson - haven't read yet, and this is fifth in a series so I might start the whole series before this one

Mary Mary by James Patterson - haven't read yet

Eugene Onegin by Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin - haven't read yet

Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse - haven't read yet

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - just started reading, will keep you posted.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - haven't read yet

Anything by Henry James - haven't read yet, but have The Wings of the Dove in my library to read thanks to wonderful Stephie!

Anything by Edith Wharton especially House of Mirth or The Buccaneers - listened to House of Mirth on audiobook and really did like it, love Ethan Frome too

The Iliad by Homer - haven't read yet

The Aenied by Virgil - haven't read yet

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - loved it in high school

Villette by Charlott Bronte - haven't read it yet

The Portrait of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde - haven't read it yet

Anything by Jane Austen especially Northanger Abbey and Persuasion - haven't read any yet, but love the movies based on her books: Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense & Sensibility.

Possession by A. S. Byatt - haven't read yet

Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif - haven't read yet

Arabian Nights aka: A Thousand and One Nights - haven't read yet

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - haven't read yet

Orlando by Virginia Woolf - haven't read yet

The Hours by Virginia Woolf - haven't read yet

Dracula by Brom Stoker - haven't read yet

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly - haven't read yet

Okay, well this is what every sent me I will give a separate blog to those I've been reading and what are my favorites!

Side project

Okay, I know that I'm sometimes a super private person. I don't let a lot of people know what is going on in my life, but then I like not having to answer a lot of people questions when things aren't going the correct way! But I have to get this out there! I just can't keep quiet about it at all! I have started writing a book! Yay! As you can tell, I'm very excited about it! Sometimes life isn't what you thought, but this feels very right. Unfortunately I'm stuck right now in it, but I know that I just need a little bit to think it all out.

So what's it about? Well there's a story behind it. I read Margaret George's The Memoirs of Cleopatra, by the way was fabulous! I love the way she writes. For someone who hates history, I've found that I really like reading about it. Well if it's fictional history based on true history! So I learned a lot about Cleopatra and Julius Caesar and their love affair. It seems that they had a son together. Well in Margaret's story Cleopatra miscarries a second child by Caesar. And here is where my "what if's" came in. I'm rewriting history and it's great. That's all I'm going to tell you because I'm not sure where it will end up at this point. Not happy with where it is right now so I'm thinking about going back a rewriting a bunch of it!

Okay, why am I doing something so crazy? Because I already write in my journal everyday and have tried to write daily for the last eight years. I've had a journal for the last 12 years. I love to write and I love to read. Seems like a natural fit to me. Do I want fame and fourtune? Of course, but I'm realistic. I know that it might not happen. But will it hurt me any? It will hurt me more to not try. There are more "what if's" if I don't try than if I do go through with it. And I have learned so much about myself and of course I'm finally learning all that history that I wasn't interested in high school. Wish they would have made it this interesting when I was in high school. I'm thinking that they really approached history the wrong way. I would have learned a lot more if it would have been presented through literature. Boy do I wish that schools would pay more attention to the way people learn. I'm a very visual learner, so no wonder why I liked math and literature. I see things very clearly. Okay, enough of all of this. I better get back to organizing. I plan on picking back up on the book and getting my research a little more organized. Heaven knows it works much better when I know where to find everything!

when it rains, it pours

What a difference a week can make! The busy season has begun at Highland Manor. I'm taking offers on homes like crazy. I think I might be setting records this year! At least I'm hoping so!

So what made this week so different? In one week I took four offers. I have another appointment on Monday for another offer. I have someone interested in my most expensive and least expensive homes. Well, truthfully, I have two someones interested in the least expensive home. But that's how it goes this time of year. Can I keep up? I'm not sure at this point! LOL! I have a stack of offers and leads I have to contact on Monday. Well actually I should be contacting them right now, but there was no way to do it on Friday or Saturday. I had six appointments for Saturday! Kinda crazy considering that I'm only supposed to be there for 3 hours. Six and a half hours later I was still trying to get out of work. I could have spent another couple hours going through everything. But I love it and I love being busy.

I plan on selling around 30 homes this year. I'm a little behind at only having one closing so far this year, but I plan on changing that this month. Guess that's pretty obvious with the amount of offers I'm taking right now. And I have a feeling that I might be able to go over that. The founders of Uniprop asked me to sell 48 homes this year. I think it might be a stretch but I might be able to do it. With this type of traffic coming in you never know what will happen. We might need to rethink only 10 new homes being brought in! I think I might be able to bring in at least 15 new homes this year. And the residents are super helpful. They give me great ideas and are really starting to refer people to Highland Manor! Boy does that help! We are going to have an awesome year!

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

What a time to be thinking...

It's so hard to believe how much things can change so quickly. I've been pouring my little heart out over this novel, my new baby. I can't believe how quickly it can come to shape. Research started less than a month ago and hundreds of books later I finally started writing. Last Saturday was the magical day when serious writing came out and it hasn't stopped since. My head hurts a little from all the concentration on the book, but it's well worth the headache. 20 pages later, I'm pretty impressed. But now comes the procrastination. My goal is only 4000 words tonight. That's only about 14 pages! And another 10 pages tomorrow. Can I do it? Yes, I can. As Bob the Builder would say. Man do I miss kids! But seriously, I somehow know that this is the right thing to be doing with my life. It's strange how the world works. I hated history in high school and now I'm writing a piece of historical fiction. The research is wonderful and it hilarious to see how much I have learned in this short period of time. I need to thank Margaret George, author of Memoirs of Cleopatra, for giving me the inspiration to say, "What if?"

Life in New Glarus is otherwise uneventful. We continue to wait for the snow to melt to start projects and for the commission checks to come in from work for me. Sales are still slow at Highland Manor, but I am expecting a great year as is my new boss! Hopefully the weather will start to get better so that it starts to pick up again.

Well I better get back to writing. Can't keep putting it off anymore!

Thursday, March 01, 2007

A year later...

Well Stephie and I didn't do the triathlon. So much has changed in a year and thank goodness most of it has been good. There have been a lot of hard times but at least I understand myself so much better. There is always something underneath it all.

So this year I am working on continuing improvements to my life and figuring out who I really am. I've been journalling a ton and with each new entry I learn more and more about myself. I've been reading many different kinds of books and feel like they are helping me on my journey. In fact I just read, or rather listened to the audio book, that said that writing is the new religion. By journalling I'm in fact praying to an higher source of power for help. And these prayers have been helping.

In fact I've opened a completely new chapter in my life. I have decided to start writing a book. I am in heaven! I have started the research and found that I miss college all over again. The trips to the library and doing research on the web, they all make me feel like I could make a difference. Maybe not a big social or political one, and possibly not even make a mark, but I know that someone might understand where I'm coming from and where I want to be. I will continue to see things in a different way than many people and I hope that someday I will find more people that understand where I am coming from! So far I've been lucky enough to have two people in my life that really know me. More than I know myself sometimes. If I didn't have them to make me think more and push myself more than I normally would, I would be a big couch potato.

So on I go with the book research and hopefully by this time next year I'll be on my next book and have a date for the publishing of my first book. I'm crossing my fingers, but for some reason I don't feel that I really need to. I feel, for the first time, that I am really on the right path. That's saying something!