When my computer, which runs Windows XP, suddenly decided it didn't want to talk to the internet, noway nohow, I had a bit of a dilemma.  It's not that I had no internet access.  We have four desktop computers, four netbooks, and a laptop, all of which (well, with the exception of my one desktop that suddenly lost its mind) have internet access.  ( Read more... )

I have entered the wide world of epublishing!  Two of my stories are now up on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, with many (I hope) more to come.  The best way to find them is to go to http://callihoo.comRead more... )

Once Upon a Time, when I was very young, I was in a play in grade school.  At this point I don't even remember what grade I was in.  I only remember that the play was "Pinocchio," based on the Disney movie that came out in the 1940s.  In that play, I was one of the "extras" who got to dress up variously and sing songs.  Then, as now, I was happy to ( Read more... )

The face-to-face writers' critique group I've been part of for more than fifteen years has a tradition of holding at least one writers' retreat every year.  After the unfortunate death of one of our members, his family's cabin was no longer available to us.  Last year we discovered that Park City ski condos are really cheap in the summer.  So for ( Read more... )

I'm off to a rather slow start in the 50/90 project.  I've finished one song--sort of--and got most of another.  I have a ragged tune for the first, and only the barest idea of a tune for the second.  I'll probably post them here when they're a bit less messy.  They're both silly songs about modern day stuff, but I think they'll still qualify as ( Read more... )

My daughters have gone to visit their cousins for a week, and I am discovering just how much I rely on them to help me out!  I have been doing some things I don't normally do, like hauling soaked clothing from the basement laundry room because of a flood (wet cloth is HEAVY), but other things like laundry (yes, I had to take all that wet junk to ( Read more... )

My daughter has discovered another crazy writing challenge to suck me into.  This time, it's 50 songs in 90 days, starting July 4th.  So I, and many of the filkers in UFO, are taking the challenge.  The 50/90 challenge (by the same people who do FAWM) allows parodies, collaborations, and any kind of songwriting you'd like to do.  So I figure filk ( Read more... )

Obviously, I've been far too busy writing to get on here and post.  Or not.  Actually, I did a lot of writing in May, although I did not write a story a day for the entire month.  June has been spent doing rewriting on some of the stories I wrote in May.  Some of the things I wrote will never see the light of day (especially the Harry Potter fanfic ( Read more... )

My writer daughter talked me into another writing challenge.  This one is a story a day for the month of May.  (Ooh, rhyme!)

I'm the sort of writer who gets an idea, plays with it for half an hour or so, then sets it on the back burner for a while.  When, during a later brainstorming session, the characters start talking to me, I figure it's time to ( Read more... )

I sold my first story back in 1988.  I've been spotty at actually writing and marketing stories, so I don't have a huge number of published stories, but I do have some.  After reading various articles--pros and cons--on the electronic marketing revolution, I've decided I'd like to make some of my older stories available for download at a fairly ( Read more... )