REVIEWS:
On HOWL..."As the secrets behind the wolf world are revealed...I found myself more and more intrigued..." ~~Francesca/JERR.
On HOWL... "A hot exciting read, with a killer ending." ~~Vivi Anna, author, The Vampires Quest
On INCUBUS ... a short, sweet read that will appeal to the hopeless romantic in all of us. ~~Fallen Angel Reviews
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The lovely lady above is 99-year old Toyo Shibata.
When back pain forced her to abandon her classical dance hobby seven years ago, Toyo began writing poems to pass the time.
Her self-published book of poetry has become a bestseller.
In December, she had 1.5 million copies in print.
You go, girl. 
I love stories like this, and I think I adore Ms. Shibata.
The details can be found here.
*****
A smile for your hump day.
It’s Pet Yoga.
Although there is something to be said for form rejections (they’re often returned faster and leave no room for doubt), feedback from agents or editors, or even other authors, can definitely help you figure out what you need to work on in your craft.
I’ve recently noticed (over a period of time—I don’t actually submit that frequently) a similar comment in a few rejections.
More than once I’ve seen “strong writing”. I’ve even lucked into one or two “love the writing”.
They are, however, invariably followed by the big “BUT” , and the words, “the story did not work for me”. 
Granted, it may all be a crock of crap, lol. If I wanted to let a writer down easy, I might come up with something like that. Maybe it’s pubspeak for “there, there, nice try, run along now.” Saying the story didn’t work covers a multitude of possible sins without being too specific, and it’s up to the author to figure out what the problem is.
But I tend to think feedback isn’t offered for no reason. And if I’m seeing too many instances of “writing=good, storyline=notsogood”, I need to take a step back and think about why. And how to fix it.
So, along with writing and trying not to give up/in, that’s something I’ll be focusing on for the next few weeks.
Either that, or I’ll just toss in a few young adult steampunkers waging war against zombie porno stars… 
If you’ve got some spare time on your hands, or just feel like cruising, the Samhain Publishing website has changed servers.
It’s bigger, bolder, and, I think, easier to navigate.
Drop by sometime and discover a new author or two.
Lots of talent there. 
I know a few really wonderful people.
That is all.
I’m getting to be a fairly old fart (by young standards), so maybe that’s the reason. But it’s all very strange sometimes.
Even while most of us are in the process of embracing a “new” year.
Even as we doggedly continue to look forward, stay healthy, strive for dreams, hope for better…
There are fleeting moments when I feel like I’ve already lived too long, seen too much.
Too many assassinations. Too much violence. Too much name-calling, blame, bigotry, hatred. All of it accomplishing nothing.
And every time something as stunningly tragic as the shootings in Arizona happens yet again, I fear for the soul of this country. The conscience of its people.
Prayers for the victims and their families.
Am I a little anxious to put 2010 behind me?
You betcha. Not one of the best. I may be pushing it a little, since this year’s only three days old, lol, but definitely ready for bright and new. 
So far this year? I’ve gotten plenty of rest. This is good.
For New Year’s, I did a marathon viewing of “Alias”. Sydney had some kick-ass parents, lol! It was good.
A carry-over from 2010 means I will have to have another medical ‘procedure’. Not good.
Got my first fortune cookie of the year. It read: “All your hard work will soon pay off”. This is good.
And I’ve already had my first nightmare of the year. Widescreen, Bose-rich sound, 3-D quality. Not good.
On the plus side, however, it was an AWESOME-good storyline, full of suspense and mystery and diverse alien life-forms with very sharp teeth. Maybe I’ll do something with it one day.
Waste not?
Hope everyone had a great holiday, and your New Year is shiny too!
