Are You A Bra? A Question of Support

The desperate and insecure writer in me is trying to climb out...

I can't help it though. I am a curious individual. I ask questions. I seek answers. I talk about everything. I can only assume this is the reason I enjoy writing.

It allows me to express myself. I can just blurt stuff out on paper that comes to mind. When I talk, I usually try to think before the words are formed. I hold back a lot.... not when I am writing.

So this leads me to where I am today... thinking about my book, Mother's Day. Thinking about how to get it into the hands of readers. Thinking how to convince people to spread the word. Wondering if it is good enough. There are people out there that have told me it is great. I didn't pay them to say it either.

I still question it though. Is it great because they know me... or did they really enjoy it. Did they get an emotional response? Are they telling their friends and family about the last book they read? Are they passing it on.

I am new to this whole promoting myself. What it has done has brought up massive amounts of questions. Questions about my supporters, questions about spreading the word, just questions in general.

Freelance artists struggle. No body knows who they are and they have to work insanely hard to get a buzz going. It is those supporters who create that buzz... and it is one thing that made me realize what kind of supporter I am.

I am a supporter of the freelance artists. 
I am a bra - if you must.


Anytime I know a person who has accomplished a goal they can brag about, I get excited. I want to support them. I want to brag about them. I want to tell the world that I knew them way back when....

When I found out an old friend from high school made a movie, I couldn't wait for it to be released so I could see it. I immediately went to their Facebook page Misfit Heights and not only "Liked" the page, but also spammed my friends with it. It is a zombie puppet musical. How can it possibly get any better than that? Sure, it might not be everybody's thing. It is a small niche to say the least. But it was great and the fact is... I was supporting a fellow peer from High School.
If you want to know more - look to your left. I got him on the sidebar and I highly encourage you to check it out!

As a writer, I have also run into others as well who have jumped on the dream boat and accomplished a goal. One of my friends from Wisconsin, author C.L. Crowe, wrote the book Soul Finding. I have already
read it on my Kindle and I am anxiously awaiting the second book's release. I also plan on purchasing a hard copy of the book just so I can have her sign it the next time I see her. I won't even go into how mad I am at her for publishing her book first! I guess she won fair and square though, so I can't hold it over her head too much. She will just have to buy me lunch next time we get together since she has got a few months on me for the publishing gig.

Obviously because of what I do, I have run into many talented artists out there. Melanie from Scribbles and Smiles also just published the book "Make Happiness Happen!" It is a quick read packed full of inspiration. I was so excited to see it since her accomplish this goal since she was one of my biggest supporters and fans during National Novel Writing Month.

My friend Vicki over at Laugh Lines was recently featured in a book called the "Life Well Blogged," which I was lucky enough to receive a complimentary copy. What I have read so far has me rolling with laughter.

Then of course their is Cyndi over at Pictimilitude, who is going to take the world by storm with her works of art. One day I will have one of her pictures hanging on my wall.

As writers, there are several different forms of support. Marie Landry gave me the opportunity to have my first experience at being a Beta Reader for her book "Waiting For The Storm." I was really excited to read it and give her my personal thoughts. It was a definite read and it made me curious about the other books she has written as well. Upon completion of beta reading, I bought all her books. I love supporting other artists.

Naturally, I can't forget about Julie DeNeen, form Life According to Julie, who was the initial push into my blogging. Who has always been around to push others to write what they feel and expose themselves. She is honest and doesn't hold anything back and that is something to admire in today's world. She already wrote two books which I couldn't put down - "Wanted" and "Writing Through The Chaos." She has a million other things on her plate, including a blogging consultation business through Fabulous Blogging. She has been a big inspiration for almost every writer and blogger I have met in the digital world, and no one has a negative thing to say about her. Honestly, even on those days when I have been busy and it seems like I am not around, I still quietly stalk her just because the stuff she has to say is so refreshing.


Last, but definitely not least, (because she will beat me up otherwise!), I want to mention Terrye from The Adventures of a Misplaced Alaskan. I hear she is jumping on the band wagon to write a book as well. She won't tell me any more details about it, so I won't dwell about not being able to gossip. However, when it comes to support, she is someone you want on your side and she is a treasure to have in your life. Every time I was feeling down and wanted to call it quits, I would say something and she would tell me to shut it. It really made me feel better!

There are also some other key people who are responsible for some  great products. Shelby McKee, owner and founder of  Keysocks, has been one of my biggest supporters. I was one of the first writers to get the inside scoop on this product. These socks are perfect for any woman who like to wear their shoes, and their socks too. This was an ingenious idea and I talk about them like they were mine. Reality is, I just want to share the love.

Yoga Sandals are another product I stand by and want to mention.  The philosophy behind this product is one I can stand behind and truly believe in. I love the concept of these shoes, since they help with foot and knee problems. I love the positive outlook this business portrays. And I also can't fail to mention one of their employees, my friend Liz, is also one of the people who helped me with the cover of my book. One thing is for sure though, I love spread the word about great quality products like this.

Who are your bras?

Overall, I learned there are people in your life who are like bras. They support you and pick you up. They go out of their way to tell you how proud they are of you, the will spend their last dime just to buy your latest piece of work. They don't do this because of it's quality, because it doesn't even matter what it is, but because they want the bragging rights. They want to show you off.

For instance, my mom has already bought 3 of my books. My Grandma has to buy another one because she refuses to share. My sister finished the book in less than 24 hours of receiving it, and I might also add that she was one of the very first to buy it. Now that is support.

After talking to one of the local bookstores, I started feeling the love of supporters everywhere. This man, who has never met me or seen me or even read my book, was excited about my accomplishment. This excitement stemmed from me being a local self-published author. He told me how to make connections - how some of these people will become the greatest supporters just because I am local. It got me excited.

It also got me thinking - who are your supporters? Do you know who they are? Do they brag about you, or do they stay silent? Are some of them a surprise?

I got curious... so I actually asked. And yes - I am taking names. In fact, I would love for them to share a picture of themselves with my book. Why? So I can do a contest and one lucky winner will get something from me and they will also get the opportunity to send my book to a person of their choice. But more on that later. Right now I just want to know who has supported me.

These supporters that create a buzz, and when you are a new artist, that is what you need. You need to create a buzz. So here is my chance to tell everybody who has supported me how much I appreciate you.

Thank you to all of those who have bought my book and shared it with your friends. 

Thank you to all of those have created a buzz 
about "Mother's Day!"

Music Monday: Still Alive

Yesterday, they planned a mandatory power outage for our area.

We knew in advance. They sent us letters and they even called us on Friday to let us know it was going to happen. Yet, when Sunday morning arrived and the power went out... I was surprised.

Maybe it was my half asleep state...

Maybe it was because I only skimmed over the letter...

Maybe it was because my husband is the one who answered the phone...

Ok, so maybe it is nothing more than I am forgetfull and didn't want to think about facing a torturous day without power or amenities. If we would have remembered, we would have planned better.

Ah... but that wouldn't have made nearly as good of a blog post either!

I mean seriously! What would I have said? Yep! The power went out. So we went to Disneyland. End of story! Boring - I know!

Spend the weekend with good friends and
board games.

Instead, what really happened is we stayed up way too late the night before playing board games with friends. I woke up to my son who was suddenly going through Wii withdrawals and wanted to play Mario. I forced my husband to get out of bed and assist my son because I may or may not have had a headache directly related to the amount of wine I consumed the night before.

So we got a chance to clean the house. What else were we going to do? There was no power, but at least we had water.

We wanted to leave and escape the house, but since we forgot about the power outage, the car was stuck in the garage. (Sure, we could have manually unlatched it... but it wasn't worth the effort or the possibility of breaking the garage door. We are just good like that!)

So instead, we did things that people used to do. We went outside and played. Rode bikes... jumped on pogo sticks... jumped rope... and even went for a walk. We came back in and I taught my daughter how to play cribbage. My husband read a book.

People used to survive like this. NO TECHNOLOGY! They used their bodies and their imaginations.

Made me wonder.... It was just so quiet. Is this what it would be like if the apocalypse happened? Without the zombies of course. I can only assume they would be noisy.

Would you stop with all the moaning
and groaning. You are going to
wake the kids!

But mostly, we survived this power outage. Even without TV, without the Internet (I know - impossible and torturous scenario - right?), without lights (in the bathroom), and without killing each other.

We are STILL ALIVE!

Which is why, for Music Monday I choose the song Still Alive from the game Portal.

Hope you enjoy!

I found the Alaskan who was Misplaced in Arizona

The end of 2012 was upon us and I knew I was in trouble... after all, I was getting a new neighbor.

Ok... so it really wasn't a new neighbor. I was already familiar with her. After all, I was listening to her advice about how to get dressed for a zombie apocalypse and how to make money illegally. What can I say, this type of information is invaluable!

What she didn't know was what she was in for. She joked about the crazy lady hiding outside her house in the bushes. But I bet she never imagined what that would lead to...

A couple hour train ride that lead to a big hole in the earth!

Ok - it could have been dangerous. After all, I am known for my bad acting skills. I once knocked myself unconscious acting out a scene done by Rick from the Walking Dead. Can you imagine acting out a scene from Thelma and Louis?

Well, my husband does have a life insurance policy out on me... but I prefer to stick around and torture him.

The reality of it is, when The Undiagnosed Mad Woman meets ups with The Misplaced Alaskan, we had a blast!

This is just one of the many pictures of The Grand Canyon.
Honestly, pictures just don't do it justice!

We met up at a hotel in Willimans, AZ. Our rooms were even right next to each other. We wore the kids down in the pool. We ate at a fancy restaurant  - AKA Pizza Hut - and arm wrestled for the bill. (Ok - there was no arm wrestling at all - I showed off my mad Kung Fu skills! Ok - so I stole the bill before they had a chance and refused to let them pay because they picked up lunch!) Then we put the kids to bed and caused commotion outside the hotel room by talking in loud voices about keywords, SEO, making money with Google Adsense, and naked mule riding!

Hey - us bloggers don't get out much!

The next day was a train ride to the canyon where we explored for a couple of hours and even had to endure a train robbery. There was no children or husbands or bloggers injured on this trip... unless of course you can consider laughing your ass off an injury.

You know it's gonna be a good time when The Misplaced Alaskan meets
The Undiagnosed Mad Woman in The Grand Canyon!

We had a blast and I find it fortunate to have such a wonderful blogger neighbor and I look forward to the next adventure we meet up for! Who knows... maybe next time we will take over Las Vegas!

Music Monday: Ring of Fire

This weekend... I ruined the song sung by Johnny Cash for Terrye over at The Adventures of a Misplaced Alaskan. It really wasn't my fault. Let me explain....

This weekend, Terrye and I dragged our families out to The Grand Canyon. Ok - so some may say we did it for the breathtaking view of this giant hole in the earth. Nope - we were morbidly curious about each other and we thought this was the perfect chance to meet!

Success!

Anyway, we decided to take the train ride to the canyon and on this couple hour trip, there was entertainment provided. This cowboy came and sang and played his harmonica. One of the songs... is my feature for Music Monday.

Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire

Now you are probably wondering how I could ruin this song for her... Well.... let's just say when I was in Cosmetology school, I have vivid memories of a girl singing this at the top of her lungs will doing her business in the bathroom.

There really is no need to explain further. Not sure if Terrye will ever think of this song the same way again.

Hope you enjoy! 

The Gargie Award and the 2013 Versatile Blogger

I woke up this morning feeling cranky. I am going to blame it on my dreams. You see, it was a three day weekend (well, for the working folks - not us writer folks) and I took advantage of not having to get up to get the kids off to school. So I slept - a lot.

Normally I wouldn't complain about getting too much sleep because normally I am always tired because I never seem to get enough. But this meant that I was caught up. So last night I struggled to fall asleep. We went to bed at a decent time because my husband had to get up in the morning. Yet - I was up by 5 a.m. There was no way I was actually getting out of bed at that time. So I fought it.

This meant that I was in and out of dreamland until I finally gave up and rolled out of bed. Needless to say, my dreams were not pleasant. They weren't nightmares... I was just being irritated by my husband and kids. Where is the hunky man dreams when you need them. I woke up pissy.

So today when I started running through the digital world playing catch up, it definitely made my day a little brighter when I was nominated for the 2013 Versatile Blogger by Terrye over at The Adventures of a Misplaced Alaskan. Now a few days ago, I was also awarded The Gargie Award from Melissa over at Mommy Writings by Daughter of MAAT.

So today I am playing catch up and frankly, I can't think of anything I would rather post about after such a milestone (I hit 100 posts here at Ramblings of an Undiagnosed Mad Woman yesterday). So, I am going to nominate some other great bloggers out there as well.

Since I got the Gargie award first... that is where I will start. And naturally, it comes with some rules.

• Display the award badge on your site.
• Publish a post to let the world know that you are awesome!
• Nominate other fellow bloggers
• Let your nominees know they have been nominated.

First of all, I want to say thank you to Melissa of at Mommy Writings by Daughter of MAAT. I am truly humbled that you would pick me out of all the bloggers out there. I can't thank you enough. So, if you haven't checked her out yet, I highly encourage you to. You won't be disappointed.

Here are my nominations:

• Vicki from Laugh Lines
• Gina from The Life I Live... So You Don't Have To
• Amy from Adorable Chaos
• Michele from Sweet-heart.net
• Ruchira from Abracabadra

Check out these wonderful bloggers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Now onto the 2013 Versatile Blogger. Thank you so much Terrye from The Adventures of a Misplaced Alaskan. I truly look up to you for all your wit and humor that you bring into my daily digital life. If you wouldn't have already gotten both of these awards, I would have nominated you because you are deserve both of these as well as a Peppergasm Award. You take life at face value and you know just when to come in and make someone smile. If you haven't checked out Terrye yet, you are missing out. So go... check out what she has to say!

Now this award too comes with some rules...

1. Thank the blogger who bestowed this award. Thanks again Terrye.
2. Add the Versatile Blogger Award to your post and site.
3. Nominate other bloggers that are desrving of the award.
4. Let them know you nominated them.
5. Tell 7 interesting facts about yourself.

Some of these bloggers have probably already been nominated. But I want to nominate those who truly have an impact on my digital life, whether it is through there support or just there friendships. I wish I could nominate everybody because there are so many great bloggers out there. My nominations are:

• Cyndi from Pictimilitude
• Melanie from Scribbles and Smiles
• Janine from Confessions of a Mommyholic
• Julie from Life According To Julie
• Melissa from Mommy Writings By Daughter of MAAT
• Rich from That's life... Sometimes
• Stephanie from Mommy, For Real

And now for 7 interesting things about me.... oh my... this might be a bit of a challenge...

1. I like Braunschweiger. My husband thinks it is appalling and is shocked that this liver type paste even appeals to me. Especially since I gag at eating hot dogs.
2. My spelling is horrible. In fact, there are times when I will actually avoid words just so I don't have to look up how they are spelled.
3. I trust easily. But when people break that trust, it takes me a long time to be able to trust anybody again.
4. I am obsessed with social networking. Honestly, I am not sure how I made it through the 90s without it.
5. I am obsessed with board games... but I truly do suck at The Game of Life and Monopoly. I could do without ever playing those again.
6. I dwell on things. Until I know what happened, how it happened and I get to the bottom of the mystery, I will not be able to put anything aside. I am too curious for my own good.
7. I am my own worst enemy.  I have the want; I have the drive; and some may even say I have the knowledge. However, there are so many times that I just don't believe that. I fight the feeling all the time and wonder if that will be my ultimate demise. 

Well, now that you have finished reading this book! Go check out some of these other wonderful bloggers and give them some attention.

And as always - thank you for stopping by. I appreciate the support and love letting you into my life and my ramblings.

Friendship Hurts: Until Our Paths Cross Again

Sometimes, you just find that perfect
person that comes into your life!

My daughter came home yesterday, and the look on her face was indescribable. She was obviously devastated about something that has happened. I know this much, just not what has happened. I can already sense her pain before she even says a word.

When I woke up, I didn't assume that I would need to have the "Friendship Talk" with my daughter. I hate this talk. Not because having friends is a bad thing, but because sometimes having such good friends can lead to so much hurt in life, especially when you have no control over the situation, as is the case when you are a child.

Over the weekend, Abby's best friend moved.

This came as a bit of a surprise. But then again, maybe with everything we had going on with the holiday travel and then the colds, maybe we just didn't notice. And children, well, they are not always well informed on their parent's plans. It isn't necessary to worry your child with stuff that is meant for the adult to worry about.

What does that leave us with... two little girl's whose hearts are breaking.

For anyone who knows my daughter Abby, they will know that she is a kindhearted child. She loves hard and she gets hurt easily. And when it comes to friendships, she finds one really good friend and latches on hard. Therefore, when she is separated from that friend, she becomes devastated. It isn't that she doesn't have other friends, but she has just found that one person who she considers family, not just a friend.

I have to admit, I have been through this as well. When I was a child, my family moved and I lost friends because of it. Some I kept in touch with and others are nothing more than memories. As a child, we can't control these situations.

Some of these old friendships eventually ended up crossing my path again. Now thanks to technology, it is much easier to keep in touch and rekindle these old friendships.

But the thing that remains true... if you are truly meant to be in each others lives, your paths one day will once again cross.

It is a hard lesson to learn. But I truly believe that the people who are meant to be in your life will push through all obstacles to be in your life.

A Million Thanks - Good Friends are Hard To Find

As I stated yesterday, with everything that has gone wrong this year, there are so much things that have gone right. People have hard times, but during those hard times, it is important to have good friends by your side.

I got lucky. Why? Because I found such a good friend.

This post I am going to dedicate to Kelly from The Real Housewife. If you haven't already, you need to check her out. She is filled with wisdom and advice and is probably one of the strongest people I have ever met! She is caring and kind and will tell you like it is. I love her as a whole because I feel I am a better person for having met her.

I owe her a million thanks! Why - because she was a friend when I needed her most. She stood by our side and helped us through a really tough situation. And honestly, I don't know what I would do if I wouldn't have met someone like her. My life is forever changed because she is in my life.

Out of all the things that I have learned from her, one of the things that really hits the hardest is that if you want something, you need to make it happen. So what am I taking from this - it is my move 2013. I am stronger than you and I will make this year great. Thank you Kelly for being such a positive influence.