Tag: Colorado Springs

BATMAN ALMOST DIED & Amsterdam, IWSG

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Pretty cool title, right? And accurate. Because Batman did almost die while white water rafting. But we’ll get to that in a bit (same with the ‘dam) 😊

Colorado Springs was awesome!! Seriously, props to Batman for his domestic pick. When he suggested Colorado, I thought the city would be Boulder or Denver, so I was surprised when he selected Springs/Manitou. There was more to do than I realized, and I actually enjoyed every part of my time there (except for when I thought I’d lose my fiancé on the river gorge and when I was halfway up the sky-ride at the Cheyenne zoo because HOLY SHIT AM I AFRAID OF HEIGHTS.)

But I’m here! Writing this! I did NOT fall out of the sky-ride like my gruesome imagination had me believing, and the plane ride home—although a little bumpy—did not interfere with any incoming hurricanes, so, second crisis avoided.

Because this is also an IWSG posting day (woop!) and I don’t want to take up too much time, I’ll post some pics of our adventures out in the mid-west, so you can get an idea of the awesome time that was had:

Because it’s in the title (and how could I not tell you?!?), yes, there was a moment when I thought Batman might die ☹

The heroic man that he is attempted to grab one of the other girls who’d fallen out of the raft, and in doing so, he fell out himself. People fall out of rafts all the time, right? It shouldn’t be a big deal. And it wasn’t. Except that we were going through one of the crrrrraaaaazzzzyyyy dangerous rapids and we were told over and over again: if you fall out, either swim to the shore or get your ass back on the boat. ASAP. The girl had already reached the shore, but when Batman went overboard, the boys in the front dove to get him. They’re a little thinner and Batman is a big guy, so they weren’t able to pull him in right away (and you’re supposed to get the swimmer in immediately). So, when it took more than a minute to pull him in with the guide barking to “Get him in! Get him in now!” and Batman struggling to get into the raft while the rapids are crashing around large, rocks, I thought, okay, I might be newly single.

THANK GOD they pulled him in in time, and besides a bloody lip, he was fine.

Other the near-death thing, rafting was so much fun! I would highly recommend it and definitely do it again!

Writing Life:

Like I said last week (or is it two weeks ago?) I’ve been going HAM on RTD. Which. Is. Awesome. The map for the rest of the story is starting to become less fuzzy, and I’m excited every time I sit down to write it. I could go on and on about how thrilled I am, but that could take forever and today is IWSG  day😊

Insecure Writer Support Group Option Question:

If you could pick one place in the world to sit and write your next story, where would it be and why?

So, there are a *bunch* of places I’d love to travel to because the pictures of them look fucking fabulous. Parts of England and Ireland, New Zealand, and across Europe look amazing, but there’s no one spot I’ve been dying to go write. However…

I’ve traveled to Amsterdam twice, and there’s a magic there. Yes, the coffeehouses do help with the mystical effect, but Amsterdam in the Netherlands is a storybook place. Beautiful. Enchanting. Old-world and definitely the desired backdrop for all my future writing projects. Batman and I have discussed it, and if we were ever able to swing it legally/financially, we’d move to the dam in a heartbeat.

A heartbeat.

If you’ve never gone, I suggest you go! Who knows? Maybe you’ll see me writing the next great something while drinking coffee on a cafe sidewalk one day. Like I said, it’s magical. Anything can happen 🙂

What about you? What’s the backdrop for your next creative project? Or, where have you really wanted to travel to?

Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) is a monthly blog hop for writers at all levels to share their fears and insecurities in a safe and encouraging place. Please drop by and say hi to Alex Cavanaugh who started this nifty concept in bringing us all together.

Have a great day and survive Dorian!

(Off to write more RTD…)

Two Years in the Making

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Sooo… I thought I scheduled this post correctly last Wednesday. It appears I did not. Well lucky for you you get TWO posts from me this week. Woop! Stayed tuned and Survive Dorian like Batman and I will be doing!

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(Intended to post on 8/28)

I can’t believe I missed last week. I mean, I can, because I’m telling you about it now, but I’m a little surprised at myself for being such a slackass. In my defense, I had a half-formed post all ready to go about how I’d scratched off my beauty-mark on my upper lip and now I don’t have my cute Marilyn freckle to distract from—what my band teacher called—very thin lips. Also, in my defense, I’ve been going ham on RTD. 😊

As much action as I pack into my sci-fi series, I’m not a fan of writing it. I’ll say it. Not a fan. A necessary evil, writing fighting/action scenes (for me) takes longer, I’m never certain it’s sounding right, and as exciting as all the action is, it’s not my favorite. I prefer the dialogue parts. The ones that delve into the plot. The ‘story within the story’ and I’ve finally reached a part where everything is calming down for a hot minute, so I’m in my sweet spot. I think I’ve written more in the last two weeks than I have over the course of starting the thing. Maybe. Close to it at least. And I still feel *so* far from the ending. I’m like hovering in the middle, but that’s okay, because like I said: sweet spot. Of course, this just means I’m approaching another full action scene/sequence, but it’s the last book in the series. Story kind of demands it.

THIS WEEK (today, when you’re mostly likely reading this) Batman and I will be in Colorado Springs! Woop! It’s only been two years in the making and one year in the immediate planning and we’re going to see things and do things and I’m hoping I won’t fall out of the raft. But we’ll see. If we’re friends on FB (and we should be!) I’ll post some pics of our adventures in the mid-west so you can follow along with the shenanigans. 😊 If we’re not friends on FB (why are we not friends??) you can expect a way cool post next week that will *mostly* consist of pictures since I’ll be recouping hard from the day before – aka the day we get back.

I’ll try to be smart with social media and update Instagram. But don’t hold your breath.

Enjoy your week!

Maybe There is Hope After All

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So, I’m an idiot.

I’m not Marissa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny—or anywhere close to it—but I *guess* I should’ve realized the reason my air conditioning wasn’t blowing is because I had the main knob turned down to the lowest setting. You know, the knob that basically indicates how much air should be blowing out? Yeah.  That one. That sucker was on the basically-off setting while I had each vent and the circulation BLASTING. Batman got into my car to take it to Napa (to charge the AC unit) and before we even left the driveway, he turned the knob and there was instant cooling relief. And then he made a face as if to ask, really?

Like I said – I’m an idiot.

The door-handle is still detached, and I’d still prefer to travel via unicorn, but at least I know I won’t drop dead of heat exhaustion at a McDonalds drive-in (like I did nearly a week ago) since I now know which knob to turn. Mind you, I’ve only had Georgie for ten years, but you know how things randomly change in cars. Don’t they? No? Shut up.

Batman and I booked our wedding photographer 😊

I was smart with that. Read the contract three times to make sure I wasn’t agreeing to be turned into a human centipede (you never know), and maybe only so much intelligence can be used per person in a short amount of time. Or maybe I just have my stupid days/weeks/months. Whatever. At least I used my smarts accordingly with nabbing our photographer. We’re about to nail down our florist next, so after that, all the *main* wedding components will be done, and Batman and I can reward ourselves for all this adulting with our trip to Colorado Springs! 😊

Two weeks and we’ll be walking through Garden of the Gods and checking out Manitou Springs and going white water rafting which I am both excited and terrified for. Believe me,  I want to go. I was the one who signed us up. But I also have no upper arm strength and I’m slightly awkward and definitely non-athletic, unlike Batman who used to be a tri-athlete (true!) So, if I suddenly stop blogging early September, you’ll know the excursion didn’t go so well, and Batman will probably be in hiding somewhere after killing the guide that let me die. (Most likely true!)

Non-wedding/car/Co trip stuff: I’m on my third Jenn Bennett book. The first one I read, Anatomical Shape of a Heart, was good, not great (for me, at least). I liked it, finished it, but didn’t grab for her next book. In fact, I forgot her name until I read Alex, Approximately and I still didn’t realize it was the same author. Well, you know how when you think about a story a lot, you realize how much you liked it? I went back to see who wrote Alex, Approximately and started another book by the author – Starry Eyes. I only NOW realize it’s the same author of  Anatomical Shape of a Heart. Huh. I guess I do like her stuff after all. What I’m saying is it took me a while to be a fan of hers. Maybe all my “non” fans are people who haven’t read a lot of my stuff, or even know that I write. Maybe there is hope after all. 😊

Had to get in my little bit of writing-related news in. Happy Hump day to all of you!

P.S. Look what I sent Batman the other day:

He is so going to love being married to me.