Glenda's Musings

A Holler out for help

2009-10-12T06:26:00.002-04:00

Hey, everyone. I know it's been a long time since I've written anything here and I'm not going to promise that will change anytime soon. I have LOADS on my plate right now.

I'm still waiting for Welcome Home to be released. My hope is that it will be out and available by the end of October. I will definitely update everyone on that as soon as I know anything.

I'm working diligently on self-editing my second book, Out of the Past, to get it ready for beta readers. I have one lined up, but I need two or three more sets of eyes to look it over. If any of you are a beta reader, or if you are willing to read this book with a VERY critical set of eyes, looking for grammatical errors, sentence structure problems, punctuation errors, holes in plot, weak story line, etc, etc, etc, and aren't afraid of hurting my feelings, PLEASE email me privately (imtogfer AT gmail DOT com).

Next month is NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. The gauntlet is thrown down to write a minimum 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I have my novel outline and am making notes for it everytime something about it pops into my head. I won last year with Out of the Past and I hope to win again this year. Right in the middle of that, I'll be flying (yes, I'LL be flying - yuck) back to Texas to visit friends and family. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone.

Now, for the REAL reason behind this post.

A new writers' guild - Lesfic Writers' Guild - is being formed by a group of writers, readers, publishers and promoters of lesbian fiction. My job is to compile a list of stores - both GLBT stores and independent bookstores that carry GLBT literature - from around the country for the group. If you know of a store in your area, or even somewhere out of the area, I would highly appreciate it if you would send me the name of the store and any other information you might have about it. You can send that info to the email address I set up specifically for this endeavor (bookstoresforus AT gmail DOT com). Please put "store info" in the subject line. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Well, it's off to slave for the corporate world another day. Y'all have a great week!

Defensive Pessimism + Positive Thinking

2009-07-20T18:42:00.000-04:00

This is going to seem like a strange message in light of my very strong belief in the power of positive thinking and changing negative thoughts to positive ones. However, I do believe there are time "defensive pessimism" definitely has its place.

Defensive pessimism basically has three steps:
1) Lower your expectations of a particular outcome. For instance, my book is coming out soon (I still don't know exactly when). While I would love for it to sell thousands of copies and win any number of awards, I've decided to just be happy to see it in print when I finally hold the final copy.

2) When you find yourself playing the "what if?" game, give it your all. Go ahead and imagine the absolute worse that could happen. Back to my example: My biggest "what if?" is "What if no one buys my book?" and "What if the people who DO buy it hate it?". So, I've written down the worse possible scenarios and that's where #3 comes in.

3) Using your list of the worse that could happen, plan on a course of action to be sure you some strategies in place to A) prevent the worse case scenarios from becoming reality, or B) if they do become a reality, you're prepared with some ways to combat it. So, I'm A) working on promoting my book and setting up readings once the book is out and B) I have my cave dug to hide in (just kidding! LOL).

I've read that people who are natural pessimists (and we are out here) actually do better using defenisve pessimism (especially for the big things in life) than when we force ourselves to "think positive" about everything. And believe me, I do believe in positive thinking and I use it on a daily basis. But right now, I'm faced with some personal issues with my son that are really challenging my positive thinking skills. So, I sat down this morning before I meditated and made out a list of all the absolute worse things that could happen in this situation. Then I made up my strategy list and meditated on it, asking my Higher Power, my Goddess, for guidance in finding a positive way through it all. I guess you could say I'm learning to combine positive thinking and defensive pessimism to my advantage.

T-day

2008-11-28T08:43:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. Lisa and I drove down to Bladen Lakes State Forest and did a short hike at Jones Lake State Park. We got there kind of late in the afternoon, so we didn't go far and I didn't take a huge amount of pictures. But I got a few I like.

The lake was almost completely placid, so the reflections were close to perfect.

I WON!!!!

2008-11-25T08:05:00.002-05:00

My NaNoWriMo novel is over 57,000 words and I'm not finished with it yet. But today I can officially say I've won the challenge (along with about 18,000 other people, I hope!). I like having a deadline like this. It makes me work harder and think faster and just get the words out. I'll clean them up and make them really make sense later, after I've written "The End" on this rough first draft. I'm considering posting one chapter at a time on my website as I get them edited. I'll let y'all know more about that once I've made a definite decision.

I hope everyone has a marvelous Thanksgiving. Lisa and I are planning a quiet one. I'm going to bake a couple of Cornish game hens and steam some broccoli and that's about it for our feast. I hope the weather is good so we can go spend some time outdoors. Otherwise, we'll just watch TV, surf the net, and spend the day together.

Rejuvenation

2008-11-20T09:20:00.003-05:00

A couple of weekends ago I ran away from home. I didn't know where I was going until I got there. "There" ended up being Kure Beach, just south of Wilmington. I arrived at the peak of high tide on a windy day. This picture was taken below the Kure Beach Fishing Pier.

It amazes me how much the ocean rejuvenates me, even when it is too rough or too cold to get in. The sound of the waves, the smell and taste of the salt air, the texture of the sand between my toes, the sight of the pelicans skimming the water - all of these things bring joy to my soul and relaxation to my heart and mind.

NaNoWriMo

2008-11-19T06:45:00.004-05:00

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, which just happens to be November. It is a challenge to write a novel of 50,000 words or more during the 30 days of the month. This is the first time I've attempted the challenge and so far I'm pretty happy with how it is going. I'm almost at 45,000 words and still have a ways to go before the story reaches its logical conclusion. AND I like my story!

The key to being able to write, on average, 1667 words a day is to retire your "internal editor" for the month. Some people drew what they felt like their editor looked like and then burned it, or wadded it up and gave it to their cat to bat around, or banished it in some other way. I locked mine in a cat carrier and told her I would let her out to play on December 1 or whenever I actually finished the novel. She has moaned and groaned, but so far has behaved herself and stayed locked away.

The title of my book is Out of the Past . . . (yes, including the ellipses). Imagine what it would be like to visit a city you have never been before and recognize landmarks, feel a sense of familiarity, and "know" the people the tour guides tell you about. Imagine standing on a porch and feeling a sense of first belonging, and then, suddenly, a sense of overwhelming terror and the need to escape that porch. This is basically what happens to my protaganist and the story is how she comes to understand these feelings and learn what to do with them. I hope, once the book is finished, to publish a chapter at a time on my website (http://www.glendapoulter.com/) and I also hope to submit it for publication. Here is the cover I designed for the book. And, yes, I did take this picture.

Speaking of my website, my webmistress will be working on simplifying it over the next few days. So, if you go to visit and pages aren't working properly, please be patient and try again later.

Welcome Home cover

2008-11-17T06:49:00.001-05:00

PD Publishing finalized the cover to Welcome Home this weekend. I'd love to hear what y'all think. Personally I love it! It's extra exciting since they chose to use one of my own photographs!

Meet Mouse

2008-10-24T08:11:00.002-04:00

This is my Russian Blue/Tabby mix kitty. I adopted him from a shelter that was closing its doors and planned on putting any remaining animals to sleep. I got there five minutes after they locked the doors and pounded until they let me in. Mouse was twelve weeks old and the sweetest little thing you could ever see. He rode draped across my shoulders the 100+ miles back to my house just purring his head off. But he seldom meows - he's very quiet. And that's why I named him Mouse. He is absolutely one of the most lovable kitties you'll ever meet. The look on his face is his "Why are you taking ANOTHER picture of me?" face.

Bull frog

2008-10-23T07:04:00.000-04:00

Taken sometime last year at UNC Botanic Gardens, Chapel Hill, NC>

Tranquil bench

2008-10-21T08:05:00.001-04:00

I have a thing for benches and have a whole collection of photographs of them. This one is in the Japanese Arboretum at Duke Gardens in Durham, NC. It looks over a small, babbling brook that has a series of small waterfalls. To sit and listen to the water running down the creek and to the birds that fuss at me for invading their territory is one of the most relaxing activities I know of.

Boardwalk at Hunting Island, SC

2008-10-19T09:03:00.001-04:00

This is a golden oldie. It is a scanned photo (so forgive me if the quality isn't the best) of the boardwalk out over the salt marshes at Hunting Island, SC. It was taken about '96 or '97. This is where I want my ashes spread when God takes me home. It is beautiful there and I miss it!

Bodie Island lighthouse

2008-10-18T08:58:00.000-04:00

Outerbanks, NC. Taken Spring, 2007.

Carolina Lily

2008-10-15T07:53:00.000-04:00

I love the way these bloom upside down. Taken at Duke Gardens back in August.

Cat bird

2008-10-14T07:57:00.001-04:00

Taken at Duke Gardens sometime in August. He played hide-n-seek with me, but I was able to snap a couple of good shots.

Old barn

2008-10-13T06:50:00.003-04:00

This is another picture I took on my way home from Asheville. I couldn't safely get out of the car so I had to take it through the window (notice the mirror in the bottom of the picture!). I was on 226A north of Asheville. I was impressed at how many people had dahlias blooming in such proliferation. It was a beautiful day for a drive, even if I did get lost!

Blue Ridge Mountains

2008-10-12T20:24:00.002-04:00

I took the scenic route home from Asheville today. This is just one of the beautiful sights I witnessed. Unfortunately, I was unable to take many pictures as there weren't many places to safely pull off the road.

It was good to see Lisa (more than good!) and to visit with the friends we met out there for Asheville Pride. It is good (sort of - Lisa isn't here :( ) to be home, but I can't wait 'til the day arrives I can move to Kentucky to be with my Lisa permanently.

Bee inside water lily

2008-10-10T08:04:00.002-04:00

Taken at Duke Gardens, sometime in August or September.

I am on my way to Asheville, NC, and Asheville Pride this afternoon. Lisa is going to be able to meet me there (YIPPEE!!!) for the weekend, but then on Sunday, we have to go back in opposite directions again (boo-hoo :( ). We're meeting up with some friends of mine from one of my support groups and we're really looking forward to it.

Because I'll be out of town, I doubt I'll be able to post my "Picture of the Day" again until Monday. Hopefully, I'll have some good fall foliage pictures to share.

Everyone have a good weekend!

Pink water Lily

2008-10-09T07:03:00.001-04:00

Taken this past May at JC Raulston Arboretum, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.

Wrightsville Beach

2008-10-08T06:01:00.000-04:00

Taken early morning, about 7ish, June 15, 2008.

Yawning Great Blue Heron

2008-10-07T09:18:00.001-04:00

Taken at the duck pond at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Duke University, Durham, NC. This blue heron was perched on top of a wood duck box close enough to the edge of the pond I was able to get fairly close. He didn't seem to mind me being less than 10 feet from him snapping one picture after another.

Bridge over pond

2008-10-06T07:33:00.001-04:00

Taken at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Duke University, Durham, NC, sometime in September.

Tiny waterfall

2008-10-05T07:25:00.003-04:00

Taken October 4, 2008, at Umstead State Park, Raleigh, NC. Pott's Branch Trail, a beautiful, easy 1.25 mile hike, follows Pott's Branch Creek. Notice the fall leaves.

Our next door neighbors

2008-10-04T08:01:00.001-04:00

Taken September 6, 2008, just outside Raleigh/Durham, NC. Lisa calls them the "Executive Committee."

Inside a giant water lily

2008-10-03T08:40:00.001-04:00

Taken this summer (in August I think) at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Duke University, Durham, NC. Can y'all tell I love Duke Gardens?

Wet Lily

2008-10-02T06:55:00.003-04:00

Taken at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Duke University, Durham, NC, sometime last month. Be sure you click on the picture to see the full effect of the water droplets on the stamens.