By the stars, has it been a busy past couple of weeks or what? Summer has consumed my brain cells; I am enjoying the weather with full abandon and my normally glow-in-the-dark skin has a touch of color to it. Not to mention? Movement is a very good thing.

And shoes. Can’t forget about the shoes. (I splurged, what can I say?)

With that, I have a few things to tell you. Hopefully they’ll retain your interest, but you never know. There’s so much to see, to read, to enjoy. . .LOOK, SQUIRREL!

I wrote an article for BookLife about how you can Learn From The Stories You Hate. I strongly feel that books and stories are your text books. There’s really no better way to learn from what’s already been published and there is a lot to be learned not just from the craft itself — but from books that are popular that we might not like. It’s pretty crappy of us to automatically dismiss books that aren’t our cup of tea and (in my mind) pretty stupid. We should want our stories to be read, right?

I’m going to be heading up to CONvergence with John Kovalic and the rest of the Dork Tower/Dr. Blink team next weekend. Some of our MIBs for Steve Jackson Games will also be there, too! I’m on vacation beginning at 5 p.m. today, but I have a lot to do before then! I’ll post my schedule next week.

My friend Bill Walton, who is also a huge advocate for the gaming industry, lost everything in a fire. You can read his post about how you can help here: family emergency.

I had a mini named after me. Characters? Yeah, that’s happened before. A few times. Heh. But never a mini! Find me in the extras on Eden Studio’s Conspiracy X The Conspiracies Sourcebook on Kickstarter.

Last but not least? A review of Instant Antagonists: Creepy Cottontail! Yay! “It takes great skill as a writer to actually build up enough empathy towards a creature whose power is drawn from the utter torment of others, but Monica accomplished this goal.”

For my Clarion Write-a-Thon, I added some excerpts on my writer’s profile, and I joined a writing team! Been scrambling trying to get ready for vacation so I haven’t blogged much about this or my word count. I hope to be doing that next week.

I’m working on revisions for my Have Blaster, Will Travel story and will be gearing up for a new short story readers voted on for Our Last Best Hope. More on that soon!

Well, that’s all the time I have right now. Phew!

Mood: I have vacation on my brain.
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: GIVE ME COFFEE OR GIVE ME DEATH.
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Movin’ and shakin’
In My Ears: The sound of a 1,000 blades whirring. Don’t worry, these are fans.
Game Last Played: Ermm…
Movie Last Viewed: Chronicle
Latest Artistic Project: A gold bead. Yep, I made a bead. And other assorted hilarity.
Latest Release: “Don’t Ignore Your Dead” included in Don’t Read This Book for the Don’t Rest Your Head RPG