What I Did Last Summer-Fact or Fiction Reveal

I've been ready for this post since Monday, lol. So, here goes:

On Monday I posted about Fire in the Hole. Let me start by saying, we did go to Silver Dollar City a lot when I was younger, and Fire in the Hole was and still is a for real ride. That story had truths in it. Such as-my sister made fun of me, in fact, my entire family made fun of me. I was terrified during the ride. In tears by the time it was over. There was no malfunction however, and there was no jerk. That year, I vacationed with my grandparents, aunts and uncle, cousin, parents, and my sister. I rode sitting next to my grandpa, and although I loved him dearly, he was the jerk doing stuff to scare the crap out of me. There was someone behind me doing/saying things to scare me, but I can't remember who or what exactly they did/said. That ride also did scar me for life. I have never rode another coaster and highly doubt I ever will. ANYWHO-That story was FALSE,

Which means my ride from hell was TRUE. Oh, so true. And scary. Jeez, so many things went wrong on that trip. There were other minor details that I left out because it would've put me way over the 500 words. Let's just say, that trip made me a bit afraid of road trips. It was bad. And the hail was seriously that scary.

Most people guessed that story number one was true and story number two was false...Which makes me happy that I successfully fooled so many. :D

Thanks for this blog hop, Emily and Melodie, it was a lot of fun.

I'm behind on getting to some of the blogs, I still plan on getting to them all though. Thanks for stopping by.

And (shameless plug) don't forget I'm hosting a giveaway! (Details here)

Happy Friday, Everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. :)

The Road Trip and IWSG

Okay, here's story number two of the 'What I Did Last Summer Blog Hop'

A couple summers ago, a friend of mine came to visit from Ohio. I decided to drive her back-with my sister so there would be three of us to alternate the driving. I rented a brand spanking new and oh so pretty car, and we headed out that night.

We drove from Oklahoma, through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and finally Ohio. I won't say the trip went smooth, but it wasn't too bad until we hit Indiana. Because as soon as we were nearing the Indiana/Ohio border, a MEGA storm hit. Rain was pouring down on us at first, which made driving a bit difficult considering the busy highway, but it wasn't too bad.

Suddenly though, the rain became tons of hail bigger than softballs. Driving was near impossible, but we were on a highway and there were no overpasses or anything to take cover under. So, we pushed forward, very slowly, and just prayed the hail would stop soon.

It didn't stop soon. No, it started pounding the roof and windows of the car. My friend was in the backseat praying that we'd make it through alive, my sister was driving and trying to keep her composure, while I was calling my kids and my niece and nephew because we honestly feared for our lives and wanted to tell our kids we loved them.

As the hail pounded the windshield, cracks began forming, and we started freaking out even more. Semis were swerving all over the road, sight was near impossible, but finally we found reprieve at a gas station.
We stopped, waited out the storm, and continued on our way.

Finally, we reached Ohio, dropped my friend off, and turned around heading back for Oklahoma.
My sister and I were certain the return trip would go well, we were wrong. But it wasn't that bad, well, okay it was.

We were driving along in the dark when-BAM!-out of nowhere we hit something, hard. After stopping to look back and make sure there wasn't a dead human body behind us, we kept going. It was dark, the area was unknown territory for us, and there were no stores around. By the time we reached a gas station, the car was acting weird. Being still nighttime, we didn't spend much time looking it over though.

The next stop we made, in the daylight, we popped the hood to check out the car. Whatever we hit had pushed the radiator back.

Oh well, nothing to do about it, we were still miles from home and with the wild trip, it made more sense to us to just keep going.

I returned the car, battered and beaten-no longer brand new and pretty-to the rental place. Luckily, I spent the extra to have insurance, so no cost for the damages. And that's a huge luckily because that car was totaled.

Insecure Writer's Support Group

I'm a big not-fan of too many topics in one post, however my Monday double post did not go well. I still have a LOW number of visits to my guest post from author Terri Bruce. Which sucks even more because there's a GIVEAWAY on that post. If you missed it, go check it out.

So, I'm posting the IWSG post in this same post. Which is okay really because I kinda whined in that one post a week or two ago so I don't have a lot to say.

As many of you know, I spent a lot of August (and really, it's been going on for a while) being unmotivated. I struggled to accomplish much of anything. Last week though, I found my motivation and got back to writerly things. I'm caught up on crits and I sent my completed MS to a couple people for a read through. Now I just need to get back to my wip, keep caught up on crits, and get some reading done. Plus, I need to get back to my blogger friends, I've been neglecting y'all too much lately. :(

I may have found my motivation, but keeping is proving to be a challenge. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed though that I can get back to 100% though and next month's post will be awesome.

Happy guessing and writing everyone. :)

What I Did Last Summer Blog Hop - Fire in the Hole

Please make sure you stop by my first post of today. I've got author Terri Bruce and a giveaway!!!

Okay, y'all, it's time for another blog hop. YAY! :D

Here's how this one works:

Monday, Sept 3-post one summer story, 500 words or less, true or false.
Tuesday, Sept 4-check out the other blogs taking part and see your competition.
Wednesday, Sept 5-post one summer story, 500 words or less, true or false depending on which you posted on Monday.
Thursday, Sept 6-check out the other blogs taking part and vote in the comments for which is their true story and which is their false.
Friday, Sept 7-reveal which story was true and which was false.
Late Friday/early Saturday, Sept 8- PRIZES!!! (Hop on over to Emily or Melanie's blog for complete rules and details.)

So, onto the blog hop.


One summer when I was about five years old, my parents took my sister and me to an amusement park. I was super excited, after all-it was my first amusement park and a chance to put a stop to my sister's endless taunting about how big of a sissy I am. (My sister and I are eight years apart, btw.)

So, we get to the park, ride a few BS rides and then get to the one. Ya know, that ONE roller coaster ride that every amusement park has guaranteed to rock your socks, make you puke/terrified/both/etc etc. I've always been short so when I saw the 'you must be this high to ride this ride' sign, my spirits drooped a little. I slinked up to the sign; shoulders slumped and pout on my face. The ride attendant laughs at me and says, “Go ahead and see, but I doubt a shorty like you will even come close.” That got my attention; I perked up, straightened my shoulders, and stood as tall as I could. I made the hight limit by one inch. YES! I was in.

My dad, my sister, and I make it through the line, climb into the cart, and are strapped in. Now, let me tell you about the ride. It was called 'Fire in the Hole' and was inside a building. There were scary things on the side of the rails, water that got dumped on you at different points, fire of course, and twists/turns/ups/downs. With my huge Kool-Aid smile on and hands gripped tight on the bar holding us in, the ride begins.

The thrills the ride promised were true. And although I was scared, I was determined to prove to my sister that I was not a big baby. I bit my tongue and tried to enjoy the ride. Then, halfway through-the ride halted. Wth?!? "Dad, why did it stop? Is it supposed to do that?!" "Of course, it's all part of the ride, honey, just relax." Then some ass in the cart behind us, leans up, grabs my shoulders, and says, "Don't listen to your dad, little girl. Scream and be terrified, because this ride just malfunctioned. We’re stuck, who knows what will happen now." Oh was my dad pissed, and damn was I scared. But, the ride started back almost immediately after.

Unfortunately, after the incident, I didn’t enjoy the ride one bit. I was horrified, crying, screaming, and almost pissing my pants. I couldn't get off the ride fast enough. I ran to my mom balling, as my dad cussed the crazy guy out. Crazy guy laughed it off and walked away, my sister made fun of me, and my dad laughed as he told my mom that I wasn’t ready for big kid rides and maybe we could try again in a few years.

Once my fear eased, anger and embarrassment kicked in. But, that experience scarred me for life; I hate and fear all roller coasters.

Slowly, but Surely

So, as many of my regular followers may have noticed, I didn't have a Thursday TAG! posted yesterday. There was a reason for that...

I'm still working on what I want to do that's more related to my genre, but I have many things that will stay the same. My schedule won't be back to normal until Monday, September 10.

This coming Monday, I'm not only participating in a blog hop, but I've also got a second post scheduled.  And then on Wednesday, I've got the blog hop still happening on top of the Insecure Writer's Support Group post. (That one should be exciting...). Because of the double posting on Monday and Wednesday, those are the only days I'm posting next week.

But, come Sept 10, I'll be back on it. I've got a little motivation back and I'm going to push myself to find the rest. I don't know where this funk came from, but I'm crawling out of it-even if it's a slow-go.

Anywho, that's all. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Friday!!! :D

Thursday TAG! - Blog Hopping Meme

Something happened yesterday tat gave me an idea for my Thursday slot. I will be coming up with questions for various people. The questions will not be the same for everyone and I will have to make sure they are willing to do it. Then each Thursday I will post them. It will be my Thursday TAG!

To kick it off, I'm doing this blog hopping meme. I was tagged by E.M. LaBonte, to do this, so, my answers are below and I've tagged some people also. And if you're reading this and you were not specifically tagged-you are tagged now. Just copy and paste the questions below to your blog, answer the questions, and tag seven (or more) people. If I didn't tag you by putting your blog at the bottom and you would like me to put you on my tagged list, leave a comment with your blog address and I will add it in. :)

Blog Hopping Meme


1. What is your dream vacation?
Hang on just a sec, let me go look up this word 'vacation' :p  For real though, I haven't been on a vacation in about seven years. However, since we are dreaming here, I would love to travel in general. Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Poland, Canada, various places throughout the U.S. and I'm sure if I really thought about it I could come up with a lot more places.

2. Are you spontaneous or do you like to plan ahead?
I consider myself to be both. Everyone is always joking about my To Do List that I write out everyday-sometimes several different ones in a day. So, obviously I do plan ahead. However, I also tend to do things that are not in my plans.

3. Tell us one thing you want to do but don't dare do it.
Only one? Because I'm sure I could think of a few things. But, if only one, I'd say mountain climbing. I think it would be so fun, but I am afraid of heights and I'm afraid to put myself into a position that could be so dangerous.

4. What's your biggest phobia?
There is a tie for this one. I'm always scared of losing my kids in any kind of way. And I'm scared of screwing up in raising them. I don't think I'm a bad mom, but I always worry if I'm doing everything right.

5. If you were stranded on a desert island-what three things would you want with you? (Not including laptop or family)
Logically, I would say a boat, and I don't know what else. But then I over analyze this question and think-if I'm stranded does that mean I couldn't save myself if I had a boat? So, I'll say, 1 package of pencils (:p), 1 box of paper (:p), and a pencil sharpener. I write, a lot, so I think I'd be good with that.

6. Name three blessings in your life.
My family, being alive in general, Faith. It's really hard to only name three, I have many blessings that I'm very thankful for.

7. What was your nickname in high school?
I didn't have a nickname that every single person used. But, Kandi or Kandi Kane was a nickname majority of my friends called me. It came from a boyfriend in middle school, and then it just stuck after we broke up.

8. If you could meet the President of the United States, what would you say to him?
I don't think y'all want to spend that much time on my blog....LOL no, for real. One thing I would say is-why don't we have a biracial/multiracial option on forms? I mean, some places put it on forms, but not many and no government forms I've ever filled out have it as an option. My kids are Black, White, and Indian and I never mark only one race. Even places that want me to, I tell them no-I won't do it. They are all three, and I will not just pick one because that's how the forms are written. There should be an option for what race they are-or some way to input each race they are. Just saying...

9. If you could be any literary character for a day, who would you be?
There are so many great ones, I couldn't pick. I don't think I would want to anyway. My life may be crazy, but even one day away from the madness and my kids would be sad.

10. What is your favorite quote?
Being the quote-aholic that I am, I don't have one favorite. I like this one: "I can resist everything expect for temptation." and this one: "I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word I am saying." These are both by Oscar Wilde I do believe.

Okay here's my list:

Caterina Torres
Kristen H Davis
Jacqueline Gardner
Ali Cross
Jean Oram(She also has a great site for people who have kids, nieces/nephews, grand kids or any kids in their lives Kids Play you should check that one out as well. Though I am not tagging her kids play blog :)
Jeremy
Joey Francisco
Alex J Cavanaugh
Angie Sandro

Yeah, I know, I tagged more than seven people, but honestly I had to make myself stop here or I would've tagged about twenty or more. So, there's my list, check 'em out. And for those tagged, go post your meme-can't wait to read what everyone has to say :) Don't forget, just because your name isn't on my list, doesn't mean you can't participate.

Just copy and paste these questions to your blog and don't forget to tag seven other people :):

1. What is your dream vacation?
2. Are you spontaneous or do you like to plan ahead?
3. Tell us one thing you want to do but don't dare do it.
4. What's your biggest phobia?
5. If you were stranded on a desert island-what three things would you want with you? (Not including your laptop or family)
6. Name three blessings in your life.
7. What was your nickname in High School?
8. If you could meet the President of the United States, what would you say to him?
9. If you could be any literary character, who would you be?
10. What is your favorite quote?

Happy Hopping :D

The April 2012 A to Z Challenge

Do you have trouble coming up with ideas for posts? Are you someone who likes to take on challenges? Or are you just someone who likes something different to do and have fun doing it?

I am all of the above, and that is why the A to Z Blog Challenge 2012 caught my eye. I have been trying to branch out with my networking. I'm on Facebook a little more often, browsing around. I went from being a Twitter hater to a Tweep who Tweets all the time. I have had my blog for a long time now, and gradually began posting more and more and have finally gotten into a bit of a routine. Once I found the site for the challenge, on Alex J Cavanaugh's Blog, I knew I had to do this challenge.

I browsed the A to Z site, added my name to the list of participants, and began to brainstorm what I would do with each letter. I haven't decided exactly what I will post for each one, but I am glad I found the site early enough that I have a little time to think it over. I'm excited to have something challenging and fun to do, I can't wait for April 1st.

So...What are you waiting for? Head on over to The Site and sign up. It's going to be fun :)

Here's a list of everyone who has signed up so far: