Twispired Blog Designs fixes this Fox!

So initially I started the blog in order to facilitate my super secret identity: One Pushy Fox. Before then I had been lurking about, leaving comments on sites under my ID which led people back to my personal blog which was little more than a virtual scrapbook for my kids. Cute? Sure. Twilight related? Absolutely not. So, I created a new handle, selected the standard black layout and this blog was born.

But then I started writing. Sure I had tried my hand at NaNoWriMo over the past couple of years, but I never felt that my characters had something to say. Then I read fanfiction and I found characters that had A LOT to say. Sometimes I needed to find out what made the B-list characters in Twilight tick. Sometimes I needed to branch out and write stuff so completely off the wall I'm not sure it would still constitute fanfiction, but I started writing and it felt good.

The bottom line is that I post here more often than I imagined I would and I think I'll be posting even more as the days go on. So when I saw what Mrs. Vanquish was doing for some of my other favorite blogs, I knew it was time to retire the sleek black look for something more me.

Behold the wonderment that is
Mrs. V's bloggy designing mojo!

I still find it difficult to believe that I got so much for so very little. First off, this whole process took less than a week. Seriously. All that while Mrs. V was working on three other blog redesigns, her own blogs AND working her full time job! Secondly, she was patient and encouraging through my MANY questions and vacillations (at one point I had over 100 fonts I was trying to choose from for my header). Thirdly, she has continued to hold my hand with my many last minute questions as I have decided to load the code myself. Finally, did you see my header??????

The whole process couldn't have been easier or more pleasant and I really value the time and effort she put into this. All this for less than my last Zazzle t-shirt order.

Mrs. V - Thank you again! Many, many times!! From the very bottom of my heart!!!! I love this new layout and I'm so happy I asked for your help!

NaNoWriMo comes to an end....what's next? A small tease!

So this morning, around 7:30 am CST I finished it. I passed the 50,000 word count mark on my NaNoWriMo novel. It was wonderful, it was amazing, it was about halfway finished. I kid you not, this story still has so much more to cover! Sheesh! But I found out a few things this year. First, not having a newborn at least doubles your chance for success. Second, waking up at the ungodly hour of 5am is possible if you have interesting people waiting for you. Third, my husband absolutely cannot sleep if I'm not next to him in the bed. So weird, but so nice when he's making coffee as I type!

Anyway, as I look back on what I've written over the past month (and try not to denigrate it) I'm happy that NaNoWriMo inspired me to try this again. And I've decided to stop ragging so much on my own writing and accept it for what it is, an escape.

Which got me wondering, what are those of you who wrote for NaNo (and even those of you who write non-fan-fic fiction) planning to do with the novel(s) sitting in your computer? Please let me know in the comments!!!

I have decided to edit mine and start posting it here. I have a few other commitments to take care of first (Christmas is right around the corner after all) but it's definitely on my to-do list.

So with that in mind, I'm posting the preface right now. It is still rough but it sets the background for the story and acts as a teaser of sorts. I hope you enjoy it!

In 1953, Dr. Eric Loveland, wrote a book making another case for eugenics. Though the topic was considered taboo by many, tainted by Nazism and the Holocaust, Dr. Loveland still felt that society could benefit from shining the rational light of science onto the irrational behaviors of the heart. The backlash against the book caused the doctor to be shunned in all intellectual societies and ultimately cost him his tenure and chair of the Harvard Department of Biological Chemistry.

Embittered, Dr. Loveland left the east coast and moved with his wife, Jane, and a select group of followers to his private South American compound, Coquimbo. The size of a small country, Coquimbo offered an amazing variety of geography: mountains that ran to snowy heights in one direction and to crystalline blue ocean waters in the other. Inland, the land was fertile and rich, providing its owner the ability to grow nearly anything, from wine grapes to palm trees, corn to orchids. By the ocean, the waters were placid and clear, wonderful for fishing, sailing and scuba diving to see the diverse exotic marine wildlife. It was Eden. It was the perfect place to start anew.

That’s precisely what Dr. Loveland and his band of dreamers did: they created a utopia, a wonderful world where the ills of the outside world were eliminated, where every person was wanted, loved and absolutely essential to the fabric of society. And when the flu pandemic of 1968 decimated the world’s population, leaving whole countries in ruins and most of the earth in apocalyptic abandonment, isolation saved the inhabitants of Coquimbo So, while the rest of the world was a lost wasteland, Coquimbo began to thrive.

After one hundred fifty years, Coquimbo was a bustling miniature metropolis. The benefits of “creating a selective society” had bloomed and Lovelandians, as they called themselves, were reaping the rewards of their leader’s dream. Coquimbo was a country where every person grew up knowing their role and feeling secure in the belief that everything they needed for a full and happy life would be provided – from the mundane, food and shelter, all the way down to the ideal profession and their genetic soul mate. It was perfect and everyone was happy.

Yep, I'm crazy...

So with the holidays approaching and everyone in my family (except the insanely supportive DH) pretty much in the dark regarding the extent of my twi-sanity, what should I do?

Well, first of course, I'll definitely plan to do NaNoWriMo because I do that every year. It's this super fun challenge to write a novel in a month, no problemo!! But that doesn't feel like enough. Hmmmm.....what else can I do?

Oh, yeah, launch a new blog with my twi-BFF, uhyesplease, that requires me to read TONS of fanfic. Sounds good, I'll just squeeze that in right *looks around for a free time slot* ooh, here. *shoves "clean the bathrooms" out of it's previous timeslot*. Oh yeah, that looks good. Clean bathrooms are overrated. I mean, my kids are just going to shit all over that toilet anyway, right?

Oh, and I think I have some more time left. *eyes calendar entries for other chores* Yep, I think I'll also see if I can convince fellow bloggy friend, fragilelittlehuman, to start writing a collaborative fanfic with me. Cool.

And you know what will be awesome? If I decide not to outline it, so I can pretty much fly by the seat of my pants and write without know too much about what fragile's going to be writing. That sounds smart!

Ok, smart I may not be, but crazy I am in spades. So you know I totally signed up for both.

So if you haven't seen the tweets already, go and check out the blog I started with uhyesplease, called The Lemon Sisters. You won't be disappointed.

And if you like my writing, or even if you hate my writing but LOVE fragile's writing (and who doesn't?), please head over to the blog we set up under our combined moniker fragilefoxes for our new collaborative effort, In The Blood.

And if my DH buys me a sweet new jacket for Christmas that's a pretty shade of white and has lots of fun buckles, well, you'll know where to find me at least. :)

Preview of Dazzling - Love for the Unloved one shot

So, as drunkenly promised, here's a small portion of what I wrote for a one shot I've called Dazzling. It's for the Love for the Unloved contest and the premise is that Kate and Garrett met before we read about them in Breaking Dawn. They met in mid-eighteenth century Paris, during Louis XVI's heyday. If it sounds very romance novely, I apologize. :) It was actually inspired by Annie Lennox's version of Whiter Shade of Pale.

Excerpt from Dazzling :

He turned and he must have caught my scent. He started to make his way toward me through the ballroom; steadily, ignoring the humans in his path as if they had been pigeons in the square. The women next to me, the ones who had been discussing him only a moment ago, sucked in a collective breath as he approached them, only to let it out in shared, disappointed huffs when he sauntered past them and approached me.

He took my hand as if we were well acquainted, bowed over it and then turned it in his own exposing my wrist. Slowly, never taking his ebon eyes from mine, he kissed it, slightly flicking the point where my pulse had beaten long ago with his tongue. I raised a pale brow. Well…that was… surprising. And erotic, truth be told. I wasn’t used to men being so forward with me, but for some reason, it suited him.

Without saying a word, he tucked my arm in his and led me around the dance floor, where several couples could be seen promenading and engaging in discreet conversation. I told myself that I followed him out of surprised interest. It was curious for one of our kind to act so directly, especially in a public venue. But truthfully, I was also attracted to him, and that fact made a difference.

“You must forgive my forward nature, mon ange” he purred, not bothering to lean down since he knew I would hear him. “I’m fairly new to this life and I haven’t learned all the social rules. But when I saw you, I simply couldn’t stay away.” His eyes searched mine, looking for something, perhaps acceptance.

I looked away, annoyed with myself for caring what this nomad thought or needed. Who was he to me? “It’s not really de rigueur,” I said in a bored tone. “Even humans don’t drag off women they haven’t been properly introduced to.” I planted my feet firmly and turned to stare at him, ire evident on my face. “What do you want? I’ve no time for the games of a newborn.”

He should have cowered. He should at least have been taken aback. But the arrogant bastard actually smiled! It was a glorious, wicked smile that made my stomach flutter; until my annoyed sensibilities woke up. It was just a smile, he was just another immortal. I should move on before we started to attract attention.

But I didn’t want to move on. I wanted to drag him off and see what other things his mouth could make me want, make me feel. As if he could read my mind, his smile stretched even more devilishly across his face.