Castle in the Clouds

Grocery shopping for our house/dog sitter. I'm thinking pizza rolls, cookies, frozen pizzas, ice cream, chips, and pop. Healthy, right? Hey, he's eighteen. I don't think he's concerned with calorie counting. Laundry. I'll probably need all of tonight, tomorrow and Sunday to get caught up. If there is such a thing. I should probably wash the bedding, clean the bathrooms, and give the floors a once over. Doesn't that sound like fun? Pack my clothes. Pack the boys' clothes. Charge the electronics. Five hours or more on the train will require a significant amount of battery life. And just in case the batteries die, I'd better stuff books, paper and pens into one of the carry-ons. Make sure Ken has the train tickets and hotel info. Find tripod. I'm sure there's a few more things I'll think to add to that list between now and Monday. It's a good start, though!

We leave Monday. Bright and early Monday morning, to be exact, because we're boarding the Amtrak at 7:00 a.m. I've never been on the Amtrak. Neither have my boys. In fact, this vacation is all about firsts for my boys. It'll be the first time they've taken a train. It'll be the first time they've visited Chicago. It'll be the first time they've sampled Chicago-style pizza. It'll be the first time they've swam in a roof-top pool. It'll be the first time they've walked along Navy Pier, visited the exhibits at the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry, and walked through Shedd's Aquarium. Since I plan on taking a gazillion pictures of all these firsts, the boys wardrobe had to be freshened up a bit. Okay, a lot. Growing boys are hard on their clothes! The shirts and shorts I bought at the beginning of the summer are looking a tad bit rough. There are stains. There are holes. There are more stains. I think they rol...

A couple of years ago I started listening to a podcasted novel called Nocturnal . I have to admit, I was just as entertained by the author as I was the story he was narrating. Scott Sigler made me laugh. He was also doing something I found quite daring. He was defying the publishing gurus and gatekeepers by giving away his work for free. Even more intriguing, he was succeeding in a big way. His fans - or junkies as they're called- responded to his call for action and managed to score him the #2 position on Amazon for his print novel, Infected. This gained him some attention and soon enough he had signed with Crown Publishing. He's now a New York Time's best-selling novelist. One who continues to make his work available to the masses through free podcasts. I must admit, I'm in awe of this guy. He has skills. So when one of my hubby's high school friends contacted us about attending a book signing down in Royal Oak, I was interested. I was also worried I wou...

I write like Stephen King I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software . Analyze your writing! If only the agents I've been querying would agree! Of course, they'd totally have to let go of the whole "horror writer" thing and settle for a paranormal romance writer/fantasy writer instead. But still. Stephen King. I could get used to his level of success. Now, because I figure you have nothing better to do, go get your writing analyzed !

Okay, so I have a story to tell you, but I really want the visual aids. Although, I may change my mind after I actually have a chance to look at the pictures. We'll see. So, in the interest of giving my readers something to read, here's a meme. As an English major, I'm thinking I should have better answers, but whatever. 1) What author do you own the most books by? Anne McCaffery, Johanna Linsdsey, Dean Koontz, Melanie Rawn, Terry Goodkind, Nora Roberts, and Jacqueline Carey. 2) What book do you own the most copies of? The dictionary. 3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? Only a little. 4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with? Collan from Rawn's Exiles or James Mallory from Lindsey's Mallory family series. 5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)? Oh, my. I tend to re-read a lot of books. Let's see...I guess...

Believe it or not, it's taken me three days to get this post up! It took that long to upload the photos. Just a few random pictures there of us chillin' under the camper awning. We were on a really small site this time, but it actually worked out perfectly. The awning brushed against the leaves of the cedar and maple trees bordering out little lot. This setup didn't seem ideal at first, but then we realized between the awnings and the trees, we were in perpetual shade. Considering how hot the weekend turned out to be, this was a blessing. This was a blessing of sorts, too. What goes better with 100 degree weather than spiked fruit? Of course, the kids couldn't eat any of the fruit or drink the vodka/fruit punch mix, so we treated them to hand-dipped ice cream. Once. Because you would not believe me if I told you those three cones you see? Twelve dollars. We could have bought two half-gallon pails for that! Of course, being on the shore of one of the Great Lakes,...