How Batman Totally Saved my SeaWeed

If you follow me on twitter (and if you don't you totally should! Follow me!) you've probably noticed lately that I've had some...difficulties with my current #WIP, LOCKE AND KEY.

I began this project at the beginning of the year, and I was sooooo excited about it! Since I ventured into self-publishing for the Kindle in 2011, I've published a series of short thrillers, a couple memoirs, and even a couple of short smutty pieces under the name Sasha Sparks (Follow her on twitter!) That's a huge array of literature, but LOCKE AND KEY--a young adult, lesbian, super-hero novel--is different entirely. And I was ready to stretch my writing muscles in new and exciting ways.

And I still am! But I've got to put LOCKE AND KEY down for a bit. I'm about halfway through the first draft, and I'm finding myself less and less connected to my characters, and less and less sure about where I'm going. I'm a pantser, so I'm accustomed to a certain amount of anxiety and nail-biting in my writing, but this has gone beyond predictable levels.

Here's the plan:
I'm putting LOCKE AND KEY down for now. And I'm picking up my next project. It's another novel, so I'm still going for the literary marathon, but this isn't YA, or super-hero oriented. There's no coming-of-age in this project. This is a story of a serial killer.

Literary Research

 

 



 



Meanwhile, Brandon's gonna read what I've cobbled together on LOCKE AND KEY, and give me a fair assessment. Maybe I'll go forth with both projects at that point, or maybe I'll finish the serial killer novel first. Not sure. We'll have to wait and see.

Stick around here or stalk me on twitter, and you'll be among the first to know what the outcome is!

And here! Just for you:

Batman Totally Saved My Seaweed

I'll Haunt Your House!

By show of hands, who here loves a good ghost story? I mean a real spine-tingling, toe-curling, hair-raising tale. The kind that makes your gut churn. The kind you can only read with the lights on.

*Raises hand*

Well have I got a story for YOU!

When Alex fantasized about buying her dream home, she didn’t imagine it would include a regiment of reappearing corpses.

But that’s exactly what she got.

In CHARLIE, Alex Hutchinson buys the home she hopes she and her fiancé will start a family in. But unfortunately for her, family bliss isn’t in the cards. Instead she gets Charlie, the corpse who won’t stay away.

What’s a girl to do? Call the cops? Bury the bothersome stiff in the basement? Run away to Spain? Alex tries a little of everything as her rotting, unwanted visitor pops in with ever-increasing frequency and the fabric of her once-tidy life unravels around her.

You can download CHARLIE to your Kindle or Kindle app for 99 cents! Or, if you're an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow it FREE!

Click me! I'll take you to the amazon page!

I <3 ghost="" p="" stories=""> 

Adventures in Bartending 3, Part 1: Tequila and Board Games on a Friday Night

For my third Bartending Adventure I decided to play with tequila because, well just because I never really had before.

Don't get me wrong. I love a pretty and delicious margarita as much as the next grrrl. But until this weekend I'd never explored any other sides of Mexico's most famous contribution to the world. So I busted out my bartending guide and I picked out a few different drinks.

My Bartender's Bible



I picked out some girly drinks: Alamo, God Bless Texastini, and one called Salma Hayek (that actually didn't turn out that well).
And I picked out some not-girly drinks: Alamo Powow, Flat Tire at the Border, Prairie Fire Shooter, Tequila Slammer.

Now I had every intention of trying all of those drinks. And frankly that's a lot of drinks. So I decided to spread the Adventure out over Friday and Saturday nights. That way I should be able to avoid the pesky alcohol poisoning.

Let's get to the Adventure!

Friday night started with tequila slammers and a kick-ass board game Brandon found called Furt.




Tequila Slammer

The Tequila Slammer is a simple, classic shooter. It's 1&1/2 ounces of tequila and 2 ounces of Sprite. Pour both liquids in a rocks glass, then slam it down so it gets all fizzy and shoot! Simple, fun, and an awesome way to open a cool party game like Furt.





Coolest Game You Haven't Played Yet



 Furt kicks so much ass. And I sincerely enjoyed the Tequila Slammer. We were all laughing and having a grand time. Brandon texted his brother and sister to tell them about the game and they immediately responded with an invite for Saturday night. But I wanted more to drink. And there was a nearly full bottle of vodka in the closet, and a recipe for an intriguing sounding drink in my bartender book: The Mind Eraser.

The Mind Eraser isn't a tequila drink, so I don't suppose it really belongs in this Adventure. But it was a Bartending Adventure weekend, and that was a new drink for me, so there! It belongs!

Mind Eraser
1 ounce vodka
1 ounce coffee liqueur
club soda to fill

Pour the liquids into a rocks glass with ice. Stick in a straw and drink all at once.

Here's what the Mind Eraser tastes like: fizzy, alcoholic iced coffee. That's pretty much it. And it's pretty much yummy.



Drinks Go Sideways When You're Drunk





An hour or two into what's now one of my all-time favorite party games I lost spectacularly. A couple tequila slammers, a couple mind erasers and a whiskey drink caught up to me all at once and I collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles. And that was that.

But that was hardly the end of my Bartending Adventure weekend. We had plans to get together with Brandon's brother and sister, their significant others, and their folks Saturday night, and I had plans to bring my Adventure to them.

Tune in tomorrow night for Adventures in Bartending 3, Part 2: Hangovers are like Girl Scout Badges for Bartenders, Right?

Still to Come!

COMING SOON TO THIS GRRRL'S BLOG!!

Next weekend I will regale you with tales of my latest Adventure in Bartending! (I'm gonna experiment with tequila!)

Next month--the second Saturday of April to be exact--I will review a fabulous novel by J. Birch, Gasher Creek!

In between, well, let's just see what happens!

ASK ME ANYTHING!!

It's the day we've all (okay some of us) have been waiting for!!

It took a few weeks, but I've finally amassed enough questions from twitter (follow me!) to post the very first installment of my blog's newest feature:

ASK ME ANYTHING!!! 

First, a review of the rules for those of you who missed the twitter announcements:
(1) You can ask me anything you'd like. The question may be serious or silly.
(2) You ask me your question or questions on twitter (follow me!)   or here, in the comments section.
(3) You may ask me anonymously if you prefer.
(4) You must accept that I will publish your question here, and I will attach your name if you give me one.
(5) You must accept that I may choose to answer your question in all seriousness, or, if the mood strikes me, as snarkily as I feel.
(6) Yes, I did just make up the term "snarkily" although snarky was already existing.

HERE WE GOOOOOO!

Someone in Nebraska asked me:
Literarygrrrl, how did you come up with your name?

Good question! I came of age in the 90s, and was very enamored of the Riot Grrrl movement in punk rock. (I still am!) The Grrrl part of my name is a nod of respect for that movement. The Literary part is just cause, well, I write shit.

@IrrationalHate7 (Follow her!) asked me:
Don't you have something else to do besides invite perfect strangers to ask you questions? You know the guys are gonna ask you about your boobs, right?

Of course I don't! And my boobs are boob-ilicious!

Anonymous asked me:
Why haven't you announced this blog feature on Facebook?

Good question! Because Facebook sucks ass. TWITTER FOREVER!!

Anonymous Indie Author asked me:
Pantser or plotter?

I'm a pantser for life! I'm currently writing the first draft of the fifth chapter of my #WIP, and I have no idea what chapter six is gonna involve. I do think the novel will have 10 chapters, but I really couldn't tell you why I think so.

And that's that! I'm gonna keep answering questions as long as I get them, so if you'd like to play along just ask me a question! Either here, in the comments section, or on twitter (follow me!)

The Long Walk

 

Can I start by saying how much I hate that the words in biggest type on this cover are Stephen King? Stephen King did not write this book. Richard Bachman did. (And please don't talk to me about how they're the same person.) The publisher did allow there to be an introduction to this edition, written by Stephen King, that essentially explains and excuses the existence of Richard Bachman, but that's small consolation. 

This was not my first Bachman book. I have been a fan of both Bachman and King for more than half my life. This was also not my favorite Bachman book. That honor belongs to The Running Man. But I found The Long Walk to be profoundly moving and deceptively simple. 

The story takes place entirely on the road, during an annual endurance competition for boys. It opens on day one of the competition, and closes when the competition is completed (won?) by the last boy. And what is the endurance competition? A walk. 100 boys walk 24 hours a day until there's only one boy left alive. That's it.

Hence the deceptive simplicity of the story. On the surface, there's not a whole lot to it. But through the story of the Walk, through the interactions of the Walkers, the reader gets hints at so much more. The narrative never leaves the road, but we learn the family backgrounds of many of the Walkers, the psychology of the whole endeavor, and even a glimpse at the larger political and economic situation of the culture in which such a contest would occur.

I was very impressed with the story-telling. And I highly recommend this read.