Don't Worry, Be Happy.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Things have been a little crazy for me lately and I have to admit I've been a bit negative. I know, I know...bad Sierra! But I have been. We've all been there. Asked ourselves, what more can go wrong? What have I done to deserve this? Why me???

So, I've realized that I've been behaving this way and I've decided to try my best to be more positive. I do believe in the power of positive thinking. It's not always easy to be positive when life is handing you blow after blow, but it is important to do. I've heard it a hundred times, if you are positive, you'll get farther in life than if you're negative. It makes sense. If I'm running around complaining all the time, why would anything go my way? No one is going to go out of their way to help me. If I have a scowl on my face, I'll be repaid with a scowl. But... if I have a smile on my face, I guarantee you that I will receive more smiles in return. This is my new goal.

Starting today, I'm going to be more positive about my life. No matter what gets thrown upon me, I'm going to try to smile and get over it. It will be a difficult challenge for me, because lately, everything I've encountered has been rough, but I do believe I can do it. Who's with me?

I know, this isn't exactly the topic you'd expect to see on our blog, but since we somehow didn't have a topic picked out for this week and I couldn't think of anything else to talk about. Thank you for bearing with me today in my little rant. Hopefully, I'll keep with my pact and things will improve for me. We'll see how it goes. I'd love for you to join me and let me know how it's worked out for you. Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Deja what?

This week we’ve decided to discuss Déjà vu on the blog. For some reason, I can’t seem to come up with anything to say about it. I’ve had the experience before, but I can’t seem to think of one instance at this time to tell you about. So, now I’m trying to think about what I should say…thinking…thinking…and still thinking. To be honest, I have no idea what to talk about today, so instead of blabbering on about nothing, I think I will share a new game I’ve begun playing to help me out with my writing. I call it, Show Me the Senses.

There is a great site that I belong to that has helped me tremendously with my writing. Romance Divas. I love, love, love this place. In fact, I spend an enormous amount of time there. Shhh! Don’t tell anybody. ;-) Anyway, I’ve posted this game on the message boards there and I love to read what other people have come up with.

Anyway, here is how the game works. You pick something and then describe all the things it brings to mind for each of the 5 senses. Here’s an example for you. I just did this one this weekend.

Swinging in the late afternoon/evening 

Sight- the sun breaking through the clouds, the suns rays glinting off the water in the lake across the road, the clouds drifting slowly across the light blue sky, the bright colors of the playground equipment, the faded wood of the park benches, bright green of new grass, darker green of older grass, grey-blue water, the many geometric shapes I learned in grade school (how the swing set makes a triangle, the monkey bars a perfect rectangle, the oval links of the chain)

Sound- the creak of the chain as I swing, children laughing at the neighboring pavilion/playground, the whoosh of the wind past my ear as I swing, my own laughter ringing in my ears (something I hear so rarely), the sound of a happy family 

Taste- the sweet and spicy taste of barbeque sauce, the smoky taste as food cooks on the grill, cool sweet taste of soda, smooth crisp taste of bottled water

Touch- the warm breeze blowing against my face, my hair caressing my cheeks as the wind pushes it back and forth as I swing, the warmth of the sun on my face as I close my eyes and look upward, my skin tightening as my grin widens, the softer feel of plastic? covered chains on some swings, the cool metal holding onto the uncovered chains, cool water condensed on the outside of a water bottle, the cold feel of reaching into the cooler to pull out a drink

Scent- the smell of cooking meat on the grill, fresh clean outside air

Ok, that’s how it’s done. It has really helped me to focus on the showing in my writing. You can play along with me. Post yours in the comments section. I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with. And feel free to choose a different topic if you want. Let’s see how creative we can be. Let me know if you like my game or if it’s helped you too. That’s the point, to help each other improve in our writing. Good luck!

The People in my Head

Creating characters can be a tricky business. I usually start with a character chart that lists physical and emotional traits. I’ve used long ones and short ones and I’ve found that the answer lies somewhere in between. You can put down too much information for your characters in my opinion.

I usually start with looks, it’s the easiest to figure out. Hair color usually comes first for me. I have a mental picture in my mind of the character I’m working on and I fill in the information as I see it. Once in a while my mental picture is wrong, and the character lets me know about it, but I’m usually pretty close where looks come in.

After I get the looks down, then the trickiest part comes into play…personality. I try my best to figure out as much as I can at first, but I have been known to leave some of it blank and work on the story. After I’ve written a bit, their personalities really come to life and I learn a little more about them as I go. Then once I’ve come to a better understanding of their personality, I go back and fill in the rest.

I think it’s important to know your characters traits because this helps prevent you from having flat characters. The more you know about them, the more three dimensional they are in the story. That’s what really makes a story come to life for me. Interesting characters.

This is how I create my characters. I’d love to hear what everyone else does. Leave a comment and let me know what your tricks are.

Ouija Boards- Game or Not?

Do you believe in the power of the Ouija board? Well, I have to say that I am a believer. Growing up, I was around the “game” on occasion. When I was little, my family had one that they swore was evil. Every time they pulled it out and tried to “play” with it, it would curse at them and use words that were never used around that home. It would tell them terrible things. They finally decided to get rid of it, but every time they threw it away, it would strangely show back up in the basement of my grandma’s house. Everyone denied getting it out of the trash and no one could explain how it arrived back in the basement.
Finally, someone decided to destroy it completely. They tried to burn it. It wouldn’t light on fire. They could have a large flame and pieces of wood burning like crazy, but the board would not catch. It actually sat in the flames for over half an hour and it hadn’t even singed. That’s when the family really started freaking out.

One of the men decided that it would take more than that to destroy it. So they took it out and used it for target practice. When they finally returned the board, it was full of holes. Once again, they placed it in the fire, and this time, it burned. Not great, slowly and not completely, but it burned enough that it was unusable. It was left in the fire pit and eventually did burn to nothing. It took a good while for that to happen, though.

My mother was strictly against the Ouija board. If she heard that we’d played it, she would throw a fit and tell us we were never to use one again. Of course, that didn’t stop me. My friend and I played with it occasionally when I would spend the night at her house. We asked it the same old questions…Who are we going to marry? At what age will we marry? What kind of job will I have when I grow up? Just ordinary questions. I don’t even remember the answers so I have no clue if it was right or not, but we had fun with it anyway.

Later, when we were teenagers, we played with the Ouija board more and asked it more in depth questions. Many of those answers were dead on. I have a tendency to believe that it depends on the spirit you contact when you use the Ouija board how accurate the response will be. I do believe that it’s possible to contact spirits by using them. I believe that you run the risk of contacting bad spirits as well as good spirits when you do use them. Ouija boards scare me a little, for that specific reason. I think it would be great to use if I knew I would reach a good spirit, but I don’t want to risk reaching one that isn’t, so for now, I’ll take my mom’s advice and stay away from them.

Have you had an experience with the Ouija board that you’d like to share? I’d love to hear them. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Ouija Right or Ouija Wrong?

Molly sat in the floor, her legs crossed Indian style, and stared at her best friend, Janna, sitting across from her. Their arms were stretched out in front of them, their fingertips resting gently on each side of the planchette in the center of the game board. Molly’s blue eyes were wide as she sat in awe of the answer the Ouija board had spelled out in response to their question.

“Did you do that?” Janna asked.

“No.” Her lips trembled as she spoke, giving her words a slight echo. “I thought you did.” The planchette vibrated against the board as her fingers shuddered on the edge of the game piece.

“It wasn’t me.” Janna took a deep breath and blinked back the tears forming in her eyes. “Please tell me you’re kidding. It’s not funny.”

Janna stood up and pushed the board away from her. The coffee table slid closer to Molly.

“I told you it wasn’t me. What more do you want me to say?” She watched Janna pacing the hardwood floor, her bare feet slapping against the smooth wood.

“I’m scared. Aren’t you scared?” Janna stopped pacing long enough to watch Molly, her hands pressed against her hips.

Molly stood up and blinked. “No. There’s no reason to be scared. It’s just a silly game. You can’t possibly believe it?”

“Yeah, I believe it. You said you didn’t move the thing and I know I didn’t move it, so something did. How can you not be scared? It just told us that we were going to die tonight!” Janna heaved a breath, whooshing the air out of her lungs.

“It’s just a game. It’s not true. I don’t know why it moved, but it’s not really a ghost.”

“Then you tell me how it moved? Explain it to me.”

Molly pursed her lips as she tried to think of a reasonable explanation for what happened. She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s magnets or something. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

Janna stared at her, her breath coming in short rasps. Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she bent forward as if she was in pain. Molly rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Janna’s shoulders.

“Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen.”

A heavy knock on the front door had them both jumping, clinging to each other for dear life. They stared at each other, neither moving to answer the door.

“What do we do?” Janna stared at her, waiting for a response to her question.

Molly’s jaw dropped open as she waited, speechless. Her heart pounded in her chest. She closed her eyes and shook her head side to side. She didn’t have a clue what to do. They were alone in the house, her parents were not due home for hours. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. Sweat beaded on her forehead and she felt the clammy cold wash over her.

“Who is it?” Molly barely got the words out of her mouth before her throat dried up. She swallowed.

“I need to use the phone. My car broke down and I need to call a tow truck.”

Janna’s fingernails pressed into Molly’s arms, cutting off the circulation. Molly pressed her eyes shut and tried to force a calm appearance.

“I’m sorry. Our phone isn’t working.” She shook her head at the ignorance of her statement. What if it was some lunatic and she just told him they had not contact with the outside world? What kind of idiot was she?

“Look, I’m really in a bind. I swear, I’ll be on my best behavior. I’ll use the phone and leave. I promise.” The voice on the other side of the door sounded like a rational human being.

She felt bad for the guy. After all, she wouldn’t want to be stuck outside in the dark with no way of getting help except for the mercy of strangers. But they were just two teenage girls stuck at home alone on a Friday night, they couldn’t be letting strange men into the house. That would be crazy.

Molly stepped closer to the window and edged the curtain back enough to get a peek at the stranger. He stood outside the door with his head slightly lowered. Short brown hair topped his head in a neat feathered cut. His squared jaw and cleft chin gave him a ruggedly handsome look. Wearing a dark business suit, his clean-cut appearance relieved some of her fear. She glanced down to see his briefcase held firmly in his hand.

She frowned. Why would he carry his briefcase to the door? Why not just leave it in the car? A shiver ran down her spine and she shook it off. Maybe he just had valuables in it and didn’t want to leave it alone in the car. She was just freaking herself out.

Janna wasn’t helping. She remained glued to Molly’s side, her hands still held their death grip on Molly’s arm. Molly took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, sir. You’ll have to try the next door neighbor. Maybe they can help you.”
Peeking out the window again, she caught the frown on his face. He opened his mouth to speak again, when a pair of headlights splashed across the front of the house, illuminating his silhouette.

Stepping away from the door, the stranger disappeared into the shadows and Molly felt her heart beating double-time. She watched as two teenage boys strolled up to the door as if nothing had been strange at all. Had they not seen the man dash away? How could they not be concerned?

Molly pulled open the door and sucked in a deep breath of the cool night air. “Jason! Trey! Thank God you guys are here. Hurry up and come in.” She glanced around to make sure the stranger was not hiding in the shadows.

“Hey girls. What’s up?”

Molly grabbed Jason’s arm and pulled him inside. Trey picked up his step before she grabbed him too.

“What’s the matter with you two?” Jason pulled Molly into his arms and placed a small peck on her forehead.

“Nothing, now. We’re fine. What are you doing here?” Molly glanced at Janna who was holding on to Trey as if he was the only think keeping her alive. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and she whimpered against his shoulder. Molly shook her head. “Didn’t you see the guy standing outside the door when you guys pulled up?”

Jason flashed Trey a look that set a weight on her chest.

“What?” Molly glanced between the two boys, whose expression had suddenly taken on a serious tone. Her eyes darted between them, hoping one of them would answer her question. “Tell me!”

Jason grabbed her arms and held her in front of him, his lips pursed tight in a frown. “That’s why we came over here tonight. We heard on the radio there’s an escaped serial killer on the loose and they think he’s in the area.”

Molly blinked as reality set in. If they hadn’t showed up when they had…the Ouija board could have been right. She turned to face the game and stared up at Janna. “Should we ask?”

Janna nodded in acceptance.

Molly took a deep breath. “Lock the door, Jason.”

To Plot or To Pants, That is the Question!

Ahhh, the age old question of writers. Are you a plotter or a pantser? Well, I have tried both methods and I have come to realize that I’m a plotter. I’ll pause a moment to let you get over the shock of it….

Okay, ready? LOL, just kidding. I’m actually jealous of pantsers! I wish I could do what you do.

Well, here’s the scoop. I have so many unfinished novels that I can‘t even count them all. I wrote them by pantsing and failed miserably every time. I’d get about thirty pages into the book and it would all fall apart. No matter what I tried, I could never finish it. I was devastated. I thought I would never finish a story and I just about gave up completely.

Then, one day, I decided to try to plot out my story. I sat down and figured out what I wanted to happen. I didn’t put in a lot of details, but figured out what each scene would be about. Only one sentence for each scene. Just a general idea of my plans. Once I finished my scene plan, as I call it, I started writing. Every day, I wrote more and more of the story, passing the dreaded page thirty. Thirty-five, forty, forty-five. I kept going. Shock and awe filled me as I typed the last word. I actually finished!

I’d never been so thrilled in my life. It was so great to finish something that I’d started writing for the first time ever. Unfortunately, life got in the way, and I wasn’t able to write for a good while after that. I never went back and revised that story. Looking back at it now, I’m amazed at how bad it really is. It has so many problems, I’m not sure I could ever fix it, but I don’t care, it’s done and that’s the main thing.

I’ve written two more stories since then, and I’m now working on my third, which I’m about halfway through with. As long as I plot it out before hand, I can finish it. If I try writing by the seat of my pants, well, the results are complete failure.

So, that’s my story. I’d love to hear what you think. Are you a pantser or a plotter? Tell me how you write your stories. How do you plan them out? I can’t wait to hear how everyone else works, maybe it will help me improve my writing. Looking forward to hearing from you.

The Truth is in the Stars

This week The Deadly Vixens has decided to talk about horoscopes. I have to say, I’ve checked my horoscope many times to see what kind of day I’m projected to have. I get the daily horoscopes sent to me in my email and I read them all the time. It’s a lot of fun to find out what the stars have in store for us.

When I was a teenager, I bought one of those little pocket books that had a years worth of horoscopes in them. I put it in my purse and checked it often. It was right a lot of the time. I wonder if they still print those books? Maybe I should check it out and buy one again.

The horoscopes I get sent in my email aren’t near as accurate as the one’s I got in the book. The email horoscopes I receive are wrong more often than they are right. But, no matter what, I still read them daily.

I would love to have a real reading done. I’m sure it would be a lot better than the small snippets that I receive in the email. It would be more detailed at least. I think it would be fun to find out what it would say about me. And to be done by a professional, I’d be more likely to believe it.

I do believe that horoscopes can tell us a lot about ourselves. It just depends on who’s doing the reading. If they are done properly, horoscopes can provide us with a lot of insight into our lives. And they can be amazingly accurate.

Have you ever had an incredibly accurate prediction from your horoscope? I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment and let me know what you think about horoscopes.

Supernatural TV Shows I Love

This week The Deadly Vixens has decided to write about the TV shows we love to watch. I have to admit that I don't watch a lot of shows on a regular basis, but I have started watching the show Supernatural, thanks to Gracen hounding me about it, LOL. She was right. I love it. It's a really good show and now I definitely have to watch and see what happens when it comes back next season. Hmmm.

I don't really care for reality TV, but I did watch one series that I really liked. I don't remember the name exactly, but it was about psychic abilities. It was a show on Lifetime and they had these proclaimed psychics come on and they put them up to challenges to test their abilities. Some of them were really good. I was impressed. I really liked this show and I hope it comes on again. I will watch it if it does. I think it was called Americas Psychic Challenge or something like that.

Other than television shows, there are several movies that I absolutely love. The Sixth Sense is my favorite supernatural movie. Haley Joel Osmont did a fantastic job in that movie. The ending hooked me and I had to immediately rewatch it after it went off. I loved it and I've watched it so many times I couldn't even count them.

Another movie I really liked was The Skeleton Key. Another fantastic ending. I would never have suspected it. You can't go wrong watching a show set in the bayou. There's always magic in that setting. Some of the best stories are set in the deep south, or come from there.

Anyway, these are the things I like to watch. I hope you've enjoyed reading about what I find entertaining. Please share your favorites. You never know, you might get me hooked.

Letters of Pragma- Sierra's Story of the Week

Letters of Pragma
By Sierra Wolfe

Sophie Matheson raced through the forest with no thought of her own safety. Her skirts bunched in her fists, she ducked branches and limbs with the expertise of a buck. Her long red hair hung loosely in a ponytail at her back, a few strands freed from their prison. Her calves were on fire from the long run. Her chest heaved as her breath came in rapid gasps. Her heart shaped locket slid up and down her skin with each breath.

A light breeze blew through the trees lifting leaves in slow waves. Small bumps formed on her moist skin as a chill set in and she shivered in response. She didn’t have time to stop. Her beloved John had mere hours before his execution. She had to find the Letters of Pragma, they were the only hope of proving his innocence. She had no idea where to look. She prayed that she’d find them in the castle. If she had to tear it apart, room by room, then she would.

Leaves crunched under her feet as she raced forward. The musky scent of earth and trees filled her flaring nostrils. She coughed to relieve the burning in her chest. Spotting a small spring ahead, she rushed to the bank, falling on her knees. Cupping her hand, she scooped the clear water and brought it to her lips. The cold fluid soothed her dry throat.

“What do you think you are doing drinking from my spring?”

Sophie gasped at the small creature before her. His long black hair matched perfectly with his coal black eyes. His wide grin displayed sharp pointed teeth. Standing up, she backed away from the spring. “I’m sorry. I was just so thirsty.”

The small creature snickered as he edged closer, trapping her back against a tree. “You should always ask before drinking from my spring. What brings you here?”

“Please, sir. I’m just passing through on my way to Yorkstrum Castle. I am in search of papers to free my intended from the guillotine.”

“You are the one then? So the time has come? I’ve been waiting.” He hobbled toward the water and bent to drink from the spring.

“Waiting? On what?” Her curiosity piqued and she temporarily forgot her fear. “How could you have known that I’d be coming?”

He chuckled and turned his black eyes against her. “My name is Zargon. I am the forest elf who controls this spring. And you are Sophie.”

Her green eyes widened. “How could you possibly know my name?”

“I know all that happens or is to happen in my forest. I know of what you seek.” He hobbled toward her and she stared down at him. “I can help you with your task.”

“You can help me find the letters? Please, I will do anything. Where are they?” She lost her remaining fear at the thought of freeing her beloved John. She had to find them in time. She didn’t know what she would do if she failed. John’s life was in her hands, she couldn’t fail.

“Oh yes, I can help you find them. But first, you must answer three riddles. Are you up to the task?”

Her heart pounded in her chest. Riddles? She didn’t have time for riddles. “Please, I must hurry. Tell me what you know.”

“The riddles must be answered, or you cannot find the letters.” He waited for her response and she nodded her head in defeat.

“Fine, then. Give me the riddles.” Sitting on a fallen log, she waited for the first riddle to be given.

“Very well, then. The first riddle is this:

You hold your mother’s heart
upon your very chest.
With it you will not part,
it’s needed for your quest.
What am I?”

Sophie stared at the elf who tapped his foot in the soft dirt. Her hand rose to her chest as if trying to feel her mother’s heart there. Absently, she twisted the necklace given to her by her mother. The silver heart-shaped locket was her mother’s gift to her just before she passed. She wore it always and never took it off. “Of course, my locket. The answer is my locket. It was my mother’s and I would never part with it.”

Nodding gently, he acknowledged her answer. “Very good. You have answered the first riddle correctly. But can you get the next one so easily?” His wide grin bared his pointed teeth and Sophie braced her self for riddle number two.

“Here is the second riddle:

I am not brought from hat or stick,
but exist without a show.
What you want you simply pick,
and then you make it so.
What am I?”

“What I want, I make it so? Wouldn’t that be nice?” A dull ache was forming between her eyes and she massaged the area with her fingers. She didn’t have time for these stupid riddles. She had to find those letters and save John. His life depended on her and she couldn’t think with this throbbing in her head. Zargon tipped his head sideways, his pointed ears aimed to the sky. His coal black eyes focused intently on her.

“Well? Have you figured it out yet?”

“I’m thinking.” Oh God, she had to concentrate. No hat or stick or show? What kind of nonsense is this? What I want, I make it so. “Is it… magic?”

His grin grew, spreading his bulbous nose wider. “It is magic. Very good. One more.

You do not have to see,
To know that it is there.
Invisible it may be,
It will show you care.
What is it?”

“It’s there, even if I don’t see it. It shows that I care. The only thing that I can think of that fits that description is my faith.” She looked toward him and waited.

“I am impressed. You have gotten all three of the riddles. Now, can you put them together and figure out the rest?” A flash shot through his eyes as he watched her.

“Ok. I have my locket, magic, and faith. What? Am I supposed to believe that my locket is magic?” She shook her head, fearing that Zargon had just wasted a large portion of her time.

“The locket is the key to your magic. The magic is within you. But you must believe in yourself for it to work.” Zargon hobbled over to her and grabbed her hand with his. She flinched when his long yellowed fingernails scraped her skin. “Listen to me. Do you want to save your man? Then listen. Your mother gave you the locket for a reason. Within it, she placed her own powers so that yours could be stronger. Hold onto the locket with your hand and close your eyes.”

Without thinking, she obeyed his commands. He turned her other palm upward and released her. “Now, think. What is it that you want most right now? Visualize it. Do you see it?”

“Yes, I see it.” She felt a heat forming in her chest and traveling up into her neck.

“Good. Now, picture it in your mind and place it in your hand.”

“I see it. I’m holding the letters in my palm. It’s weird, I can almost feel it in my hand.”

“Open your eyes, then.”

Her eyes flitted open and she looked down at the worn papers in her hand. Gasping, she gripped the papers tight. “How?”

“You believed. Your quest is over. You‘ve not much time. Hurry!”

Turning, she raced into the woods. Her beloved waits.

My Writing Environment

This week we've decided to discuss our writing environments. Most people will probably say that my environment is not conductive to good work, but it works for me. ;) I actually write in my bed with my laptop on my lap. This is my favorite place to write. Occasionally, I will take my computer downstairs and sit at the dining room table, but more often than not, I'm in my room.

I don't listen to any special music or anything like that, but I usually have the television on in the background. I'll pick out what I want to watch and a lot of times forget all about it. After I've been writing for a while, I'll look up and notice that a completely different show is on, one I don't even like, LOL. It rarely distracts me from my writing.

Every once in a while, if my muse is being particularly difficult, I will find myself distracted by the TV. When I'm working on a scene that I don't really feel into, then I'll watch a show and pull myself out of the story. But this happens rarely and my system seems to work for me so far.

Another thing I usually do is go into a chat program at the Romance Diva's website. I can go in there and find someone to do a challenge with me. This is when I do my best work. When we challenge, we have someone keep time for us and we write for 20 minutes. At the end of the challenge, everyone posts their progress, usually word count, depending on what they are working on. Occasionally, we post short snippets of our work for others to read. This practice is very motivating and helps me to get a lot of work done. Of course, we also chat too which is quite fun!

Anyway, this is my process. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my writing habits. I'd love to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let me know!

Sierra

UFO's? Where??

This week, we decided to talk about UFO's. It all started when I was talking to Sarah about an experience that I'd had and we were discussing if it was a UFO or not. Now I know that most people think UFO's are just ridiculous stories, but I'm not so sure they're not true. Roswell ring any bells? A lot of people believe in it.

At any rate, I'll share my experience with you and you can decide if it was a UFO or not. We used to sit outside on my grandma's carport at night. We'd sit on the porch swing and enjoy the lovely summer evenings, watching the lightening bugs and listening to the crickets chirp. We would talk about whatever, my grandma had the gift for gab. :)

Several times when we were sitting outside, we saw a bright orange orb in the sky. It would mostly hover, but it also moved around in a circle or oval before settling down again. It would hand around for hours and then just disappear into the darkness. It didn't happen every night, or even on a regular basis. There was no predicting when it would arrive. But we saw it many times. Sometimes it would come a little closer, but it usually stayed back a ways, high in the night sky.

We discussed this amongst ourselves on many occasions, but we never could figure out what the orange ball was. We finally decided to agree that it was a UFO. I don't know if it was or not, but we found no reasonable explanation for it's existence.

The area does have a history of a UFO appearance. I didn't learn this until much later, after my grandma had passed away. But there was a report of a small crash and an alien body retrieved. It was kept very quiet and only a very few in the area knew of it. A sheriff and a local preacher were reportedly two of the few who were witnesses to the event. Of course, once the story came out, there was a lot of controversy over whether or not this actually occurred.

I think that as far as UFO's go, there will always be controversy. Either you believe, or you don't. I'm still unsure of my position on the subject, but the way I see it, if there can be ghosts, why not aliens? Anything is possible in this world. I know that we'll never know the truth to everything that exists. But if I didn't believe in possibilities, I wouldn't be a paranormal writer.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Do you have any experiences to share? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Revising our Work

This week, we’ve decided to write about our writing. After a discussion about the difficulty we are each having with revising our works in process, we decided it would make a good topic for our blog. So here we go.

I have been having a terrible time lately with revision. I’ve gone through my complete manuscript once so far and no matter what I do, it just doesn’t sound good enough. I know it’s probably a personal problem, everyone else who has read some of it has stated that it doesn’t sound bad. But to me, it still does. I know I have several more drafts ahead of me, I just hope that I can be happy with the results.

I’m probably trying to be a perfectionist. I don’t know why, because I’m not a perfectionist in everything. But when it comes to my work, I want it to be the best that I can make it. I want to write a story that my readers can enjoy. One that they can get lost in and not be pulled out due to poor writing.

So I’ve been working really hard trying to make it the best that I can. I rely on my wonderful critique partners to help me with this. I don’t know what I would do without someone else helping. After a while, when you read the story over and over, you start to lose the ability to see it for what it is. That’s when someone can come in with fresh eyes and give you an honest opinion. Without that, I’d never be able to finish.

I’m ready to turn over my story to them and let them cut it up. I hope they find all the mistakes that I’ve made and help me to polish it until it shines. Once that is finished, I will fix my errors and edit it one more time before I finally send it off to find a home.

I know that everyone goes through this. Hopefully, I will get better the more I do it. But for now, this is my process. I’d love to hear your comments on what you do when you revise. What do you look for? Or if you are a reader, what pulls you out of a story? What are the worst offenses you’ve noticed writers make? Post a comment and let me know what you think.

Innocence Lost- A Poem by Sierra

We've changed our story day to Sunday now to allow more time for responses to our Saturday contests. From now on, the story/poem that we post will be on Sunday and the contest winners will be announced on Tuesday. This will allow more people the chance to enter. So, without further ado, this week we are posting a poem written by Sierra.

Innocence Lost
by Sierra Wolfe

Monsters hide within my head
As if under a small child's bed
Only for me they do not go
As I get older, as I grow

They come and go without regret
To remind me of tales I can't forget
The secrets they share, utter truth
Horrors from my long gone youth

Wounds my mind tries to bury
Heavy weights my heart must carry
A trusted friend with shielded eyes
Whispering to me with sweetened lies

Fisted hands, as threatening dares
Mocking words that no one cares
Bruises long since healed on skin
Where no one knows they've ever been

Time has gone, years have flown
My mind has stilled, my body grown
A little girl, innocence lost
Was payment of the highest cost

The Making of a Ghost- Sierra's Story for the Week

Alexa stared at the dark man wielding the knife. She knew her life was over before he raised it to her neck. She knew it by the way he smiled at her. His eyes held a far off look, like he wasn’t seeing her. He was seeing someone else entirely. She held her breath as the sharp instrument sliced through her skin. The blood trickled from her neck.

His hot breath bared down on her, suffocating. She hoped it would end quickly, praying for quick release from this monster’s grip. He pressed the knife into her throat, but not hard enough to end her short life. Please, let him finish it. Why was he torturing her like this? She didn’t understand. If he wanted her dead, why didn’t he just do it?

She closed her eyes so she didn’t have to look into his smiling face, his yellowed teeth bared to disgust her. His palm crashed against her cheek and she whimpered. “Look at me when I kill you. Do you hear me?” His voice was loud and gruff. She tried to protest, to keep from looking at him, but he wouldn’t allow it. His fist made contact with her jaw. Her eye throbbed from the pressure building underneath.

“Please! Please stop!” She begged him for mercy and he was happy to oblige. The knife slit through her throat. The last sound she heard was his chuckle.

All went silent around Alexa and darkness engulfed her. Where was she? Was it over? She felt her legs moving, walking forward in the darkness. Finally, a light appeared before her. She stumbled toward it, her knees trying to buckle. She fell forward with a thud, her knees scraping the unknown substance of the ground. She saw the light flicker and tried to move towards it, but her strength was gone. Her eyes fluttered closed and she succumbed to the darkness.

Alexa woke with a start. Where was she? The ground was cold and wet, the sun barely shining through a mass of heavy gray clouds. She could hear singing in the background and turned to see where it came from. Her family stood dressed in black, in a half circle around a coffin. Her mother brought a tissue to her eyes while her father pulled her closer into his arms.

Alexa was intrigued and crept closer to watch her funeral. It was larger than she’d expected. The preacher talked of green pastures and still waters. Alexa wished it were true. She wasn’t standing in green pastures right now. She stood, actually hovered, in the middle of a cemetery while her family grieved. She couldn’t even comfort them.

Would you stay in a haunted house?

This week we’ve been discussing on the yahoo group whether or not we’d be willing to stay in a haunted house. I think I’d have to say, it depends. I think if the house wasn’t haunted by a mean ghost and I had someone to stay with me, then yes, I would spend the night. But… if it was a mean ghost, then I’d definitely not stay.

Some people wouldn’t be willing to stay at all, but I think it would be fun. My nephew and I were just talking about this a few weeks ago. He watched a show on television that told about a haunted hospital or something that you can pay to spend the night and he said he would like to go do that. I told him I’d go stay with him sometime.

My niece, on the other hand, said no way would she go stay there. So she and my daughter decided they would stay in the hotel while my nephew and I stayed at the haunted hospital. Hopefully, some day we’ll get to do that.

I think that it would be fun to see a ghost, as long as it’s a friendly one. So what do you think? Would you stay in a haunted house? Come join us at The Deadly Vixens Yahoo Group and let us know what your opinion is. We’d love to hear it.

Nightmares or Inspiration?

Sarah and I got talking the other day about our dreams and I was telling her about my nightmares. I rarely dream, but when I do it’s always a nightmare. There have been very few exceptions to this rule. I’ve had a few premonition type dreams as I mentioned in my earlier blog about paranormal experiences.

One dream I had was about the old house I mentioned in that earlier blog, the house that belonged to my great grandparents that we tried to stay in on Halloween night. Anyway, I had a dream one time that I went in the house to explore (which I frequently did, alone no less) and I walked up to an old dresser. The bottom drawer of the dresser was pulled out and when I looked inside, there was a dead body with maggots all over it. I screamed and the dead body got up and started chasing me. I ran out of the house and for some reason, my dad’s truck was waiting outside for me (odd because I’d walked there). So I jump in the truck and try to drive away. All of a sudden a fence is there and I drive around and around in circles trying to find a way out, the dead body is chasing me the whole time.

Another time I was dreaming that I was in a cemetery and zombies were chasing me around the graveyard, through a crypt, and around again. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t make a sound. I woke up in a panic and when I went back to sleep, I resumed my dream. This happened several times that night. And for the next few.

I was talking about my nightmares to my mom one day and she reminded me that even as a kid I had those kind of dreams and it’s true, I did. I wouldn’t sleep when I was little because I always dreamed about the one-eyed, white haired monster. I had that dream frequently as a child. I can remember his face to this day.

So the more I think about it, there are several reasons behind my obsession with the paranormal. Do I use my dreams as inspiration for my writing? No, I don’t think I do. At least, so far I haven’t. I’m not into zombies, but some day I may use them in a story, you never know.

Our First Winner Announced!

Congratulations to the first winner of the Deadly Vixens blog contest. Caitlin provided the correct answer to the question posed. Thank you Caitlin for joining in our contest. Congratulations again on winning a free ebook. We hope you enjoy reading it. Please email us at thedeadlyvixens@yahoo.com and let us know which ebook you’d like to receive and the email address where you would like to receive it. We hope you will join us next week for our second contest.

Our First Contest!

Welcome to the first of our weekly contests on The Deadly Vixens blog. As a special treat because it’s our first contest we will have two lucky winners this week. All you have to do is answer a question. The answer can be found in my blog post for this week. The winners will receive one of the following ebooks free.

Diane Taylor's Wassail Woes or Diane Taylor's MerLion's Pleasure
Thanks to Diane, our guest blogger this week, for giving us copies of her ebooks to give away.

All right, are you ready? Here’s the question we want an answer to….

What did Sierra hear at midnight on the farm where she grew up?

Be sure to comment on today's blog with your answers so that you can be entered in a drawing to win one of the prizes. If you have a preference of which book you’d rather receive, please list it also. However, we cannot guarantee that will be the book you win. In the case that both winners choose the same book, we will randomly select the book to send.

Winners will be announced on Sunday. Be sure to check back and see who the lucky winners are.
If your name is drawn as the winner, you will need to email us at thedeadlyvixens@yahoo.com to claim your prize. Include your email address when you claim your prize to ensure delivery. If prizes are not claimed within one week of drawing, new winners will be chosen from remaining entries.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

Things that go bump in the night!

I'm sitting in my house at 2:30 in the morning and thinking to myself how lonely it gets when everyone has to go to bed. I love my house, it's so pretty. It's an old two story with hardwood floors throughout. It has the most amazing dark wood trim, which is what made me fall in love with the place. It's so pretty, but it can be kind of creepy in the early morning hours when all is silent and no one is awake but me. For some reason it reminds me of "The Sixth Sense". I love that movie. Love it! So anyway, as I sit here alone in the quiet, except for the soulful sound of a train whistle as it passes, my mind gets to wandering. Naturally, I'm thinking of ghosts. Makes sense right? Old house to "Sixth Sense" to ghost. There's a good train of thought (no pun intended).

So I'm thinking of ghost stories, all the ones I've heard throughout my life. My aunt telling us about how she saw my grandpa sitting on the end of her bed at the exact moment that he passed away (in another town completely), all the family members who swear my mother's house is haunted (my daughter included), and the story of the old sawmill that used to run on the family farm. Supposedly, a man was killed at the sawmill and if you listen at midnight, you can hear the blades running. I swear that as a teenager, my friend and I heard it. But that's as close to the supernatural that I've come. There was an old house on the farm that belonged to my great-grandparents that has fallen into dilapidation. We used to love to explore it when we were teens. I can remember one Halloween when my friends and I decided to spend the night there. It wasn't that far from my parents house, so they agreed to let us spend the night (probably because they knew we wouldn't stay). My dad hooked up a generator so we could have lights in the main room. We had a blast, but we didn't stay all night! As the hours passed and midnight approached, too many of my friends started freaking out and refused to stay. So we ended up going back to my house. Ah, the good old days.

I've always been fascinated with the supernatural. I have done my share of chasing ghosts, but I haven't found one yet. Give me time, I'm sure one day I will. Who knows what will happen. I may pass out, but I hope not. So this is my question for the week, I want to hear about your ghostly encounters. Has anything happened to you that you'd like to share? Be sure to check out the Deadly Vixens yahoo group and post your stories. I can't wait to read them.

I've finally got my web page up and running. Please stop by to check it out. Well, it's time for me to change my thoughts from ghosts to vampires as I have a story to work on. Good night and don't let the bedbugs bite (or whatever else lurks in the dark)!

Introductions

Hello and welcome to the new blog of the Deadly Vixens! We’re so excited to have you here. We are a group of three paranormal romance writers who’ve decided to team up and share our love of the paranormal. The group consists of Sarah Makela, Gracen Miller, and Sierra Wolfe (me). We hope to share our lives and our work with all those out there who are interested in reading what we have to say, or at least the paranormal worlds we create.

I thought I’d start by telling you a little bit about myself. My name is Sierra Wolfe and I’m an aspiring author. Unfortunately, I haven’t been published yet, but that will be changing soon. Not because I’ve got anything ready to be published, but because that is my goal and I’ve decided that it is going to be a reality. I live in the lovely state of Missouri, or Misery as we sometimes call it. Just kidding. Old Missouri joke. I have one beautiful daughter whom I love dearly and spoil rotten. She’s 16 now and just recently gotten her license, my own personal horror. I also have two rotten dogs, a 12 year old Cocker Spaniel and a 1 year old Shih Tzu. You can imagine the mess in my poor house, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. They definitely keep up the excitement.

As I stated before, I’ve never published anything, but that’s ok because I’ve never submitted anything either. I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember and I’m ready to get on with it and get my stories out there. I love the darkness and I’m a creature of the night. I’m sure there are many of you out there who will understand. I suffer from terrible migraines and the sun is murder on me. Anyone who suffers from them can certainly relate. Bright lights are one of the worst things out there for migraine sufferers. At any rate, I’ve become accustomed to avoiding the daylight. My daughter teases me that I’m a real life vampire. Anyway, perhaps this is why I’ve come to love vampires. I love to read about them and write about them. They are my favorite. No offense to the werewolves, witches, and shape-shifters, I love you too. But I’m afraid, I’m a vampire at heart. Always will be.

We Deadly Vixens have created a yahoo group that we’d love to have you join. It’s for everyone who loves the paranormal as much as we do. If you’re a reader or writer of paranormal, or if you just want to visit, be sure to pop in and join us. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deadlyvixens/ Hope to see you there.

You can also visit me on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/read_sierra_wolfe or befriend me on facebook.

Sierra