Wednesday Word: Scrote

scrotenounBrit. informal a contemptible person.ORIGIN 1970s: from scrotum.
The Brits have all the good slang.

Release Day!

Let the banging of Pots and Pans commence! 

Secrets and Bow Ties is officially out today. This is the third in the Secrets series, but like all the others it's a standalone. It's also the zanies and zingiest of the series so far, take my word for it.

The story's hero—if you can use the term for someone like Dylan—is a self-confessed gold digger. Unfortunately for him, his biggest talent lies in getting into trouble. Enter Simon, the nerdy, fashion-challenged college professor. Add a trip to Las Vegas, a handful of bad guys, and you have a heaping dose of screwball comedy-romance-suspense.

You can enter to win a copy of the entire series on Diverse Reader.

Vintage Monday: Books

This is me these days, except instead of mobile library, I borrow audiobooks from the public library. I have woefully little time for actual reading, and my eyes get tired too fast, but I can listen while doing cover designs. It makes the tedious parts of Photoshopping—and there are many—much more bearable.

Back in my late-teens, early-twenties I used to knit, but it was so boring, I could only stand it while watching TV. Listening to a book can take the dull the dullness of creating Photoshop masks.

Wednesday Word: Gobbet

gobbet |ˈgäbit| nouna piece or lump of flesh, food, or other matter: they lobbed gobbets offresh bonito off the side of the boat.ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French gobet, diminutive of gobe
I don't know how the dictionary writers come up with their examples, but immediately this scene from JAWS came to mind:

You know, before this happens:

Writing and Rambling

Even the big stories grow from tiny seeds of ideas.

I keep a notebook to jot down random bits of dialogue, character ideas, and other flotsam and jetsam of my brain. Not unlike a squirrel hides his nuts.

Recently, when looking for idea for a short story, I came across comic take on a comic take on an old trope. You know, the one where the protagonist looks into the mirror and describes himself.

In my version the hero looks into the mirror, describes what he sees, but it's not him. So far it was just a joke, but I started exploring the premise. Who's visage is in the mirror? How did it get there and why? And from this a story emerged.

I'm not 15,000 words into this yet untitled urban fantasy story and I'm rather giddy about it. I already know it'll need a sequel.

On an unrelated note, my other creative project, the quest for the perfect, or at least pretty good sourdough bread is so far a bust.