Express Yourself: Fashion Flashback

Brought to you by Dani and Jackie, the Cover Girls!



I have had a DAY. It was long, and then I got rained on, and now it's after midnight, so I'm going to make this quick! The question this week from Dani and Jackie:



What fashion trend do you think should make a comeback?



 So when I was in high school, Backstreet Boy's "I Want It That Way" came out (sidenote: Absolutely hate that song now. They had so many better songs, but it was unfortunately the most popular). In this one scene during Kevin's bridge, they pan out as AJ slides up and sings. He has on these awesomely baggy pants with strings hanging from the pockets. I, a lover of baggy bottoms and tight tops because I thought I was Janet Jackson, knew I needed a pair of those. I'm in my thirties now, so I don't know where I would wear them, but I would love for UFOs to make a comeback.




If I had the legs for them, I would also say plaid skirts and thigh-highs, because I never got to wear those, either.

Wednesday Words: What I Need to Be Reading

I'm truly nearly done reading On Writing. I just lost momentum on it. There are so many books I have to read that I got from the library right with it. I had to return it to the library, then check it back out. Darn shame.

Did I already post about the books I checked out, or did I take a picture of them? I feel like this is deja vu...Oh, it was Instagram.

A photo posted by Deb H. (@1nonlydeb) on



I also finally checked out A Girl is A Half Formed Thing. I remember normal people being angrily confused by its fragmented style, so I knew I had to give it a shot as someone who tends to have fragmented thought.

This doesn't count for the books I keep buying, either! I have at least six I need to read, and coincidentally, I'm 6 books behind on Goodreads. Maybe I should just buy On Writing so I can set it aside, but I seriously have less than 40 pages left to read. I just need to focus.

Pray for me.

Tuesday Tales: Around the House with Ghuli*

*This post occurred before I changed Ghuli's name to Jonnie*


Some time ago, I started a character Q&A for Tuesday Tales, and it continues to work pretty well for me. Last week, I accidentally said the question I found was from the Proust questionnaire. It was actually from the Gotham Character questionnaire, and so is this one! I actually think I'll be able to milk this one for a few weeks. Let's start with Ghuli.

What is in your character's refrigerator right now? On her bedroom floor? On her nightstand? In her garbage can?


What is in my what? ... Oh, an ice box? ... You have a strange name for it.

At the moment, there are several pounds of elk's meat and seaduck, sweet leaves, and apples in it for stews. I believe there is a bag of frozen sheep's milk. My nursemaids like to make Athwart Stew for me, and it needs cream instead of meat broth like the other stews.

I don't have much on my bedroom floor. Cyan would lecture me until it was bare. Howbeit, I do have a basket of my socks at the foot of my bed. I almost never wear them. Beneath my bed is a book which slipped there in my sleep.

On my nightstand are a pile of books I need to begin reading and a picture of Sir Aleksandyr, Cyan, and me. One of Cyan's nursemaids took it when I was a baby. There is also a wooden leonine half-painted white. I will finish it soon.

My wastebasket is officially used for the clothes I tear among the trees. I mend them when it is full, or when I tear my favorite pieces. My favorite sweater is in there now, so I will be mending it before bed tonight, or I won't be able to sleep.
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(My room and my fridge are constantly a mess, so...lol.)

Express Yourself Weekly


I have to do this quickly. I was supposed to do it last night and plum forgot, but have to leave early today as well! This is brought to us by Dani and Jackie, the Cover Girls (links to come later), and this week they ask:

Name something you are looking forward to this Summer.

Tomorrow, I am going to Baltimore to listen to the FINAL SYMPHONY! That is the music of Final Fantasy, and it will be the music of FF VI, VII, and X, which had some of the best scores in the history of gaming! I love Nobuo Uematsu. I can't wait to hear this live!

Have a good weekend! What are you looking forward to this Summer?

Tuesday Tales: Finding a Happy Place


Hey, it's my birthday!!

But blogs need to be posted, so away I go (I've scheduled this anyway).

Some time ago, I opened up the floor for readers to ask questions of my characters. I ran out of them, and so I found a website filled with questions from the Gotham Character Course called The Writer's Toolbox. Interesting questions, so I thought I would start with this one: Where [do you go when you are] angry?

Who wants to answer?


Cyan: ...Why are you looking at me?

Brodie: I was wondering if you do go anywhere. You always seem angry.

Ghuli*: I used to lock myself in my room and throw my pillows about. It did nothing but exhaust me, and I would fall asleep.

Brodie: I like to go out and shoot at painted targets. It helps curb my need to shoot the real ones.

Cyan: I am not always angry, thank you.

Brodie: Did what I said anger you, Cyan?

Ghuli: Cyan has a short temper, but it's short-lived as well. His general disposition is more...frustrated than angry.

Cyan: I can answer for myself...'Tis a little embarrassing, howbeit...I sit in the corner.

Ghuli: When we were younger, Sir Aleksandyr used to make me leave the room when he did that...I suppose it was because I was usually to blame.

Cyan: This is true, but I sat in corners before you were of walking age. It has always helped me clear my head and calm down.

Brodie: ...Is that why you were sitting there the other day?

Cyan: You were why I was sitting there the other day.
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They're quite a pair.



*This post occurred before I changed Ghuli's name to Jonnie*

Fast Five & Express Yourself Friday

It is Friday, and it is LATE Friday. I'm supposed to remind myself at night to do these, but ah well. These two Q&As are done by the Cover Girls, Dani and Jax. They work tirelessly to bring us questions to answer. Join in if you like!


For this week's Fast Five Friday, the ladies want to know: 5 Things you wish you knew then that you know now.

1. You weren't fat in high school.
2. You're going to gain more weight than you did in high school.
3. Getting published isn't as easy as writing The End and putting your work in a manila envelope. There are levels.
4. Don't forbear your loans back to back. You'll run out of chances.
5. You need to get out more.



For Express Yourself, the ladies want to know: If you could try one occupation for a day, other than your current job, what would you choose?

I used to want to be a firefighter (childhood), so maybe that...But I'd also like to be an actor for a day.

Tuesday Tales: Brodie Takes Over



I'll have to double check, but I believe I'm at the last question for my characters provided by readers. Thank you all so much for the questions! It's been fun. To keep it going, I'll probably search the web for more things I can ask them, but feel free to ask more questions, too!

Heather Holden's last question for Brodie is: What made you want to join the Watch?


My dad was a watchman. When I was a just learning to walk, I would sit in the yard and watch him train even on days when he didn't have training. He was an excellent marksman and a craftsman, really. This was one of the last guns he fashioned before his death. Hundreds of marksmen are carrying his rifles. You will know by his carved initials on the butt. He had horrible handwriting, but he could carve letters legibly.

To be honest, I was supposed to train solely for the Scholarship, as my mom's family did, but I never had a love for it. After my dad died, she had to force herself to do it daily until...well, until she couldn't any longer. I told myself I wouldn't let that happen to me, so I drew up the courage to defy my eldest sister and joined the Watch. It was the best decision of my life.

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Thanks again everyone!

Fast Five Friday x2


Happy Friday!

I haven't done a Fast Five in a while, and I realized I missed one last week! These are brought to us by Dani and Jackie, the Cover Girls! They ask us a question in 5-form, and we get to answer them in list-form. :) Here we go.

July 1 – 5 favorite things you like to wear

1. screen tees
2. pajamas
3. ballet flats
4. my sister's knit caps
5. Target clothes

July 8 - 5 TV characters (past/present) you'd love to spend the day with

1. Ross from Friends
2. Sinclair from Living Single
3. Garnet from Steven Universe
4. the Gilmore Girls
5. the cast of Firefly

Give these a whack for yourself! I'd love to see what you come up with.

IWSG (A Day Late)



Brought to us by Alex J. Cavanaugh,
sensei and founder of the Insecure Writer's Support Group.


I just realized I forgot to post TWO days in a row. Ironically, I had a post drafted for my usual Tuesday post and had stuff to actually say for IWSG yesterday. I need to set aside time to do these at night now. I honestly wasn't even doing anything but watching Gilmore Girls last night! I just forgot to do anything else with my life.

I jumped back into contests this year, for which I was both nervous about and skeptical of. I had a disappointing experience with one last year, not because my story wasn't picked, but because the judges I picked had said they would send feedback to those who submitted to them, and even after I let them know I didn't get anything back, I still got nothing. I know they don't have to do it, but when they say they will...they just should.

Also, I don't know what it is with my beta readers' lives falling apart when they have my work, but I feel like I'm a jinx. At this point, I've fallen on relying on my own editing/proofreading background to look over my work and hope that will be enough to at least get me a "Can I see more pages?" from someone.

On a good note, my #SFFPit tweet was liked by Rena Bunder Rossner! I'd looked at the Deborah Harris Agency before and was curious, as they're based in Israel, but I couldn't pass up the chance to query her!

I'm trying to jump back into reading and writing after a long break, and I still haven't figured out the pattern of doing it at home. I'd been doing it all at work for so long, my equilibrium is thrown off. How do you guys do it!?

Okay, on to work, I go! I'll be visiting other blogs some time tonight.

Final Fantasy Friday: Nostalgic Nuggets


I watched the 2nd episode of Final Fantasy XV yesterday, and it focused on a little bit of backstory for the supporting character Prompto (God, I hope I can change his name). They're driving away from a blockade, and an injured pup is in the road. Prompto pulls over and goes to care for it, sending us into his thoughts for a flashback of an overweight teen Prompto who cares for an injured puppy. He learns it belongs to a girl who knows Prince Noctis (the MC), and he gets up the nerve to speak to Noctis. Everyone's scared to talk to him. Prompto is clumsy and awkward, so he trips over a barrier. Noctis, who goes to help him up, tells him he's heavy, so Prompto worked to lose weight so he could talk to Noctis again (awkward logic). Secretly, you could tell Noctis wanted Prompto to talk to him whenever he saw him, because literally NO ONE else would.

I say this to say I found one of these nostalgic moments in my own story the other day, and it felt good to see the parallel. Make those parallels where you can. They're fun.

That is all. :)

Have a Happy 4th of July!