Shameless 'Women in Horror' Indiegogo Plug

This is, as I titled this post, a shameless plug for the Women In Horror Indiegogo page.  The publishers are trying to raise $5,000 in hopes of being able to publish the anthology in both electronic and hard copy formats.  So far, they've gotten about $580 CAD, which is great, and there are still 31 days left to donate.  If you like horror and/or want to support female horror writers, then I can't think of a better way to do it!  In exchange, they are offering some pretty nice goodies, including (for a $75 donation) a personalized, signed copy of a final draft of the story or article of your choosing AND a branded USB loaded with a copy of the entire anthology.  (They are in the process of setting up a listing of the authors' names on the site.)  How cool is THAT???

This will be the last 'advertisement' you will get from me on this, and I hope you don't think I'm pushing too hard.  But as most of you know, it's my very first time being published under my real name, and it's their first publication, so I'm doing what I can to help.  

Thank you to anyone who chooses to donate!  And thank you also to anyone who wants to but can't! 

Don't Judge Your Decisions by the Results

I attended a Financial Literacy presentation the other day at the university where I work.  It was designed for the incoming freshmen; I was there just in case there were any financial aid questions.  There was only one, but attending the presentation itself was well worth my time.

For me, the most important thing the presenter said was this:

"You can't judge a decision by the result.  Judgment on results alone misleads people into making very poor decisions.  For example, if you drink too much, drive home and get there safely, the results show success when I think we can all agree that the decision making failed."

That first sentence hit my brain like a 2x4!  For years, I've been doing exactly that, judging most of my decisions by the results.  (Perhaps most people do this, but I can only speak for myself.) When the results are either bad or just not what I want/expect, I tend to assume that I made a poor decision, that I should have thought more about it, that I should have taken more time, blahblahblah...  In other words, I judge myself and decide that I am wrong.

Yet when I look back at those decisions, they were probably the best I could have made at the time, given the circumstances and what information I had.  So I've decided not to judge myself anymore on those things, but instead just continue to do the best I can with what I have, and let things work themselves out as life unfolds.

Feel free to do the same.  :-)

Women in Horror Annual

Now that our stories have been accepted and are going through the editing process, the editors are starting to put out information to the public about the new "Women in Horror Annual" online journal.  The first issue is due out in February 2016. 

I just received notice that the FaceBook and Twitter pages are up and running, so here is that information:

facebook.com/whannual/

 

@whannual

 

There's some great stuff on the FB page, including announcements about and links to writing contests and other cool and scary things.  

Please come check it out!!

Thank You for Your Service

Today I'd like to thank some of the veterans in my life for their service in defending our nation:

 


George Arthur Simpson - U.S. Army, World War II  (grandfather)

George Allen Gustafson - U.S. Navy, World War II  (father)

Roger William Simpson - U.S. Navy  (uncle)

Elvis "Pete" Simpson - U.S. Coast Guard  (uncle)

Janice Foreman Whitener - U.S. Navy  (mother-in-law)

Robert Wayne Whitener - U.S. Air Force  (father-in-law)

Paul Belanger - U.S. Air Force/U.S. Navy Seals  (friend)

They like it, they really like it!

I got another e-mail today from the editors of the Women in Horror Annual.  They like the changes I made to my short story, didn't ask me to make any more, and the publication date is set for February 2016!  

This is so exciting for me, and I plan to keep the momentum going.  I'm currently working on two more stories (one about a romance between a necromancer and a vampire, and one with a werewolf theme), and finished a non-horror one a few weeks ago that I needed to write, for various reasons.  And I still haven't heard back about the first one I submitted to a different online journal.  

Do you have a creative outlet that excites and inspires you?  If so, please share it!

Endings

Well, it's over at last.  My mom's rental house has been cleared out, and the keys sent back to the owner.  The last bills have been paid, and her phone line has been moved to the nursing center, so now she has her own private phone by her bed that she can use anytime. 

It was hard "giving away" my mom's life, so to speak.  I did keep some things, of course, and gave many things to the friends helping me with this task.  I also kept some things to give as gifts in the future to people whom I believe will appreciate them.  The rest was donated to the local Methodist church, which is helping out the many people who lost their homes and everything in them to one of the California wildfires that we've been plagued with this year, three of which were in my mom's area.  The minister was thrilled to get so much clothing, furniture and kitchen utensils that were in decent condition.  And my mom was very happy to know that her sacrifice in giving up her home is helping others who need it badly.

I don't think I'm going to write any more about this.  It's too difficult, and too personal, in many ways.  And because I can't help also wondering what will become of MY life someday, and I don't think I want to know.

Makeup Time!

It's been AGES since I did any posts on wardrobe or makeup or any of that stuff, so it's about time I shared some great stuff with you.

I've got three terrific makeup items to rave about today:

1.  The first is Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.  This stuff is AWESOME!!  It comes in three colors, Original (which is what I use), Sin and Eden.  There is also an anti-aging formula, although I can't find that one on their website, but I did see it at Sephora when I bought mine, which is the regular formula.  I get NO creases in my shadow any more, and it isn't sticky or smelly.  The only thing I don't like is the wand applicator; in my opinion, it takes up too much room in the tube so you get less of the primer itself.  And who needs an applicator to put on primer, anyway???  Fingers are MUCH more accurate and you can use less primer because you can spread it better.  You're also more likely to get germs or foreign stuff into the tube if you wipe an applicator on your lid and then put it back in the tube than you are if you just squeeze the primer out onto your finger.  But maybe that's just me. 

 

Anyway, I highly recommend this primer.  I get mine at Sephora, but I'm sure you can get it at other places as well.  It's a bit pricey, at $20 US for .33 ounces, but it lasts a LONG time, and it's well worth it.  (Actually, I just found it on Urban Decay's website, and they have it on sale for $10 US!!  But of course there's shipping, so pop! goes the savings.)

2.  After you've got your primer on, it's time for eye shadow!  I recently found Almay's Intense 

i-Color in Trio for Blues (032) on www.BuyMeBeauty.com.  You HAVE to look for the one that says (032) because there are more than one of these called Trio for Blues, but ONLY this one has these specific colors (see below):

 

The top color is a shimmery silver-grey.  The middle color actually looks like deep-blue-to-almost-black in real life, but it looks matte black when it's on (at least, it does on me).  I'm a little bummed that HALF of the container goes to a pale pink that I would never wear in a million years, but hey, the other colors are worth it!  They go on smoothly and stay put.  And it's only $3.99 US at BuyMeBeauty!

3.  My final rave review of the day is for Maybelline's Waterproof Ultra Liner (in Black, of course).  This stuff is INCREDIBLE!  I've never had liquid eye liner that went on so nicely and stayed so well.  I was worried when I saw the short teeny bristles of the brush, but I think that's part of what makes it stay on so well.  It even makes it through crying jags fairly intact (NO raccoon eyes), which is a miracle in and of itself.  It's $9.50 US at most drug stores, but it works so well I'd pay more if I had to!

 

And now I must go and look for more makeup/skin care deals...  ;-)

November: "I'm SO Goth..."

Copying and sharing from the Elders of Goth FB page: