Want to Help?

My heart is breaking watching all of the livestock that are being flooded out and I was trying to figure out how to help.  I don't have any property, so I can't take any in.  But I do have a book for sale, and I can donate the proceeds from that book to the people who can help the livestock who are displaced.  So, all proceeds from book sales running through the end of the month will be donated to Denkai Animal Sanctuary.  This is a great way to kill two birds with one stone: you can start buying stocking stuffers AND help animals who need it.

Click the book in the sidebar to order.

So, please spread the word far and wide.  Let's help the critters we all love.

*Sigh* Another Year Dawns

It seems like I didn't have enough time in 2010 to get everything done.  I checked in with last year's resolutions and felt like it was a draw.  No surprise, I'm recycling all four of them for this year and adding one.

#1: Be healthier.  I semi-succeeded with this one, in that I ended the year weighing less than I started the year.  But I'm in worse shape, not better.  This year, I'll be turning the big four-oh.  I so want to hit my birthday forty pounds lighter than I am now.  Turning the big four-oh, forty pounds lighter.  Yep, sounds like a good omen to me :)  Going to check out a gym tomorrow; have to join one.  I'm too much of a wimp to 1) run and 2) run in the cold.  Screw that business.

#2: Write, write, write.  Re-query TALES FROM THE TRAIL.  Finish HUNTED LYON and begin editing it.  Get to work on the second book in the Lyon series, LYON'S ROAR.

#3: Spend more time with my little girl.  Because, let's face it, there's just never enough time to spend with the equine loves of our lives.  I'm even going to take riding lessons while she's at winter pasture so that I can utilize my seat better.  I ride okay and have lots of hours on the back of a horse, but I'd like to have better leg/seat control.  Estes is much better trained than I am; I'd like to be a worthy rider.

#4:  Continue my Master's program.  If I play my cards right and work my arse off, RockCrawlinChef and I will walk together at graduation in 2012.  How cool would that be?

#5: Be a better person.  I'm kind of a catty, snarky bitch.  I'm trying to learn to live and let live.  It's hard.  I've always spoken my mind, hurt feelings be damned.  I grew up believing that you say what needs to be said, when it needs to be said.  I still believe that, but I think I can learn a lot from my Southern friends who can tell someone to go right to hell, give them directions, and make them think it was their idea to begin with.  It's a skill I envy.  I want to be able to bless hearts with the best of them.

Don't Forget...

...to head over to Tales to hear about Bill's poor Mustang attacking the trainer.

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For anyone interested...the publisher received my query at 9:13 am on Monday morning (thank God for FedEx - it allowed me to cybersnoop).

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And just for a little happiness this evening, I give you Baby Moose.  Click the link and relax for about four minutes - it's so cute!

Resolution Check-in

Remember this resolution?  It would be the resolution that I would write, write, write.

The dedicated writing time hasn't happened. 

The 1500 words a week hasn't happened.

Well, then, why the heck are we having an update?

'Cause one part of my resolution has happened (albeit late, but it's happened).  I just sent my query letter, author bio, and three sample stories from TALES FROM THE TRAIL off to the publisher.

I know that in real life, the chances of being published, especially the first time out the gate, is slim to none.  However, the worst thing that can happen is that they can say "no", which is actually better than what they would say if I never submitted anything.

Would you all, please, please, please, send good vibes to Johnson Publishing in Boulder for me? 

Yes, I'm begging.

New Feature Over At "Tales from the Trail"

I follow a lot of equi-blogs in many different disciplines, and though I only have a handful of followers over at Tales from the Trail, I can tell by my site statistics that I've got a lot more lurkers (or my followers can't get enough of my writing and read each post a hundred times). I love reading different horse/ride stories and had a brilliant idea last night...what if I had a "Ride of the Week" featuring different bloggers?

So, in light of my brilliant, but not very original idea - after all, people have been doing guest blogs since blogging began - beginning in March I will host a different equi-blogger each week. We'll keep the Ride of the Week going as long as people have stories they want to share.

March 3: Shannon from Oh Horse Feathers and Related "Tails"

March 10: Juanita from It's A Horse Life

March 17: Rachel from Once Upon A Miracle

March 24: Bill from It's A Horse Life

March 31: TJ from The Ranch on Salmon Creek

Everyone who has ridden or spent any time around horses has a story to tell, so tell it. You don't have to be a horse owner or expert; I just love reading about other people's experiences and memories of my favorite critter on earth and I'm sure other people do too. If you are interested in guest blogging, please email me at tel835@hotmail.com and put "Ride of the Week" in the subject line.

Welcome, New Followers

Since Saturday morning, my followers have almost doubled.  Hell, if I'd known that all I had to do to increase my followers was to publically announce that I've got a polar bear attached to my ass and I have to lose it to gain followers, I would have done it long ago!  So, welcome and here's a quick history lesson of me and my blog(s).

Why "GunDiva" as a name?  Well, that's easy.  I love, love, love to shoot anything that goes bang.  In the past, I've competed in defensive pistol and long-range rifle matches.  I visited my brother in Arizona one year and we went to the Scottsdale Gun Club.  They had a cute little baby-doll t-shirt with "Gun Diva" printed on it.  I bought the shirt and the nickname GunDiva stuck.

This blog started, I guess, as a way to share stories with my family and friends.  It was kind of just a fun way to write.  This blog, my primary one, is kind of a catch-all for anything.  There's no real theme.  I brag about my students, my horse, my kids and my husband.  I also rant on ocassion, the most recent being about an idiot (if she wasn't an idiot, I wouldn't have had to rant) in a movie theater.  And most recently, my blog is being used to document my 1st resolution of 2010 - to become healthier (I'm trying my best not to say "lose weight").

My second blog, Tales From The Trail, arose from my years as a wrangler in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  I'll be submitting the stories to a publisher (with help from a dear friend and fellow GunDiva) this spring in hopes of getting them published.  Keep your fingers crossed.

My third blog, Lyon's Roar Protection, is a WIP that has been sorely neglected of late.  My hope is to post once a week, but that hasn't been working out so well, with the majority of my energy being directed toward getting Tales published.

I've got three teenagers and a new husband...

...the equine love of my life...

...a cat...

...a step-dog...

...and amazing friends...

What A Nice Surprise!

Nathanael over at This Is How It Feels has honored me with a bit of blog bling, and what a great surprise it was!  Nathanael and I "met" when he was honored with the Honest Scrap award by Monda over at No Telling, I jumped over to his blog and fell in love.  We were both then honored by Monda when we were included in EasyStreet Prompts' Blog Carnival.

When I think about the people I've "met" via blogging, it's rather mind-boggling.  The internet, I know it's been said before, has opened up whole new worlds.  Where else would I have met a gay solder serving in Baghdad or a Southern gal with a passion for writing or another wickedly funny Southern gal or an endurance rider from California?  There are so many people that I've met through blogging that I would never have had the opportunity to meet before.  It truly is astounding.

The rules, as have been explained to me by Nathanael are:

1.) grab the award (check - see above)
2.) post it on your blog along with five things you love to do (Oh Jeez, just five.  I'll have to think about that.)
3.) five others you want to recognize... (Again, only five?)

Things I love to do: (in no specific order)

1. Ride my horse, Estes.  You can find the story of how I fell in love with her over at my other blog, Tales From The Trail
2. Blog.  Well, write.  I love to write, and blogging is an easy way to connect with people I wouldn't normally get to meet.  I also love my morning blog crawl and can't get through my morning without it; it's my equivalent of reading the morning paper, I guess.
3. Shoot.  Hence the name Gun Diva.  I love the feel of a controlled explosion, which is all shooting really is.  And, hey, I'm pretty good at it.  My friend and fellow Gun Diva, Tara Janzen, is a rifle shooting queen.  Me, I love the handguns.
4. Read.  This kind of ties in with #2; part of blogging is reading.  I get to read small, bite-sized stories daily and look forward to them, but I also love novels.  Really, anything with words.  Hell, I even read shampoo bottles.
5. Work.  I really do love my job and the people I work with; I can't imagine doing anything else.

Recognize Five Others... (again, in no specific order.  Nathanael, you know I'd send this back to you if I could.)

• K. Erickson at Preachers and Horse Thieves.  He was awarded Editor's Pick for the 1st edition of EasyStreet's Blog Carnival.  I jumped over to his blog and immediately followed.  I love his writing and his dedication to his wife.  Here's a man who is head-over-heels in love with his wife and isn't afraid to post it for the whole world.  Oh, and he's got some great stories, too.
• Monda at No Telling and EasyStreet Prompts.  She's a great storyteller and I look forward to her posts everyday.  I'm not sure how I stumbled upon No Telling, but I enjoy it immensely.  And, of course, EasyStreet Prompts has a place in my heart, as my Honorable Mention (posted over at Lyon's Roar) was my first ever blog bling.
• Candance at Crazy Texas Mommy.  I love this woman!  Her posts are guaranteed to make me laugh.  Everyone needs a little CTM in their life.  Imagine my surprise when I was talking to my brother in Arizona one day and he asked if I'd ever read CTM.  We both found her blog at about the same time and fell in love.  Shortly thereafter my step-dad started following CTM, so now it's kind of a family cult thing.  So...that sounds a little creepy.  Didn't mean it to come out that way.
• Roxanne at Pet Blog.  Her stories about Verne the horse trader keep me in stitches.  I love the way she's able to bring his stories to life in so few words.
• Bill and Juanita at It's A Horse Life.  Okay, so there's a bit of nepotism here, they are, after all, my parents.  And I was the one who not only talked them into blogging, but set it up for them.  It started as just a way to share some of their favorite stories and recipes and stay in touch with their guests, but they're really taken it and run and their hits counter is burning up. 
  

That was tough, only choosing five.  Please check them out; I think you'll enjoy them.  And be sure to tell them I said 'hi' when you stop by.

Exhaustion - I Mean NaNo - Update

Finished the day with just over 15,000 words.  Lost my mind and joined a challenge to write 20,000 words between Friday at 4:00 pm and Monday at 7:00 am.  Probably won't be able to write tomorrow, as it's finals day and I'm way behind on my grading, which I only have 24 hours to turn in.

NaNo summary of the day:

Fourteen ton of hay was delivered.  The Buckle Bunnies copped attitude with Shelby and got sent packing.  Allie (Shelby's best friend and live-in cook/nanny) decided that she and Shelby were going to go speed dating in the very near future.

It's kind of depressing how easy it is to boil down all of that hard work into three short sentences.

I'm still trying to figure out which story to write for Tales from the Trail and I've got to get a new post up for Lyon's Roar.  Those posts may be my break from NaNo this weekend.  I've got a couple of things in mind for Mr. Brody's reception dinner to liven up the story a bit again; we'll see what ends up on the page.

Finishing a Project

...I hope. Most of you who know me know that deep down in my soul I'm a writer. It's what I do, kind of like teaching. I never intended to grow up to teach, but it's what I do, who I am, I can't not teach. I feel the same way about writing. It's what I've always done, it's what I do. I gave up the dream of becoming a published writer years ago; the pragmatic side of me, the side that has to house, clothe, and feed my children took over.

Last year, I started a collection of short stories about my years as a wrangler. Again, that project got set aside after a strong start. I've started and not completed more stories than I can count. I've got notebooks and notebooks full of my writing that "someday" I'm going to do something with. Well, "someday" has arrived. I've started a new blog (http://gundiva-talesfromthetrail.blogspot.com) and will post a different short story each day until my story is told. I have to give a lot of credit to the movie Julie & Julia, which is not a movie about food, but about writing and finishing what you start.

Thank you, Julie Powell, for giving me the kick in the pants that I needed to finally see something through. Maybe once I finish Tales, I'll move on to finishing one of my many other writing projects.