Holy cow, where in the Sam Hill have I been????? Well, it’s been a crazy month so far. As most of you know, my son entered the United States Navy the first of the month. Since then, I’ve done everything in my power to keep my mind occupied so I wouldn’t spend all my time in tears. The result is that I’m in the process of creating some really cute items and will soon be re-opening my online store. Not sure which one I want to focus on just yet, but that’s not important right now.

Because of all the cool giveaways I’ve been entering, and all the wonderful people I’ve had the honor to meet, I’ve really gotten into making my quilting stuff. I don’t just make quilts, I make things like purses, clutch purses, and aprons with quilt patterns. I’m also working on a cool design for some place mats, but they’re turning out to be a little tougher than I’d imagined. Hopefully that means they’ll be really awesome when they’re done. LOL

As soon as I get a few more finished, or any of them finished, I’ll be sure to upload pictures. I’m pretty happy with the results so far, but almost everything is still in not-quite-done mode. LOL. My daughter keeps telling me that I need to finish up one project before I start another, but I’m one of those people who thinks to themselves, “I wonder what that would look like”, then can’t move on until I find out. LOL

So, as soon as I get a few more things done, I’ll show them off. I hope you’ll all stop by and tell me what you think, but please be kind as I don’t take criticism well. Ok, back to work. I’ll never get finished with anything unless I get off the computer and do some actual work. LOL

Is it just me getting old, or all the up and coming writers out there a really dark breed? I remember wanting to be a writer so bad when I was younger that I’d write just about anything and let just about anyone read it. That’s not to say any of it was good, but I had a dream and I would try anything I could to see it come to pass. Now, I see all these young writers making a name for themselves in some really gruesome ways. No, I don’t mean they’re doing gruesome things, but the things they’re writing is kind of disturbing.

Ok, maybe it’s because I’m at an age now where every time I land a new writing client, I feel like a million bucks. “What, you want me to write about tree bark toilet paper? Sure, no sweat. Been writing about it all my life”. I know I’ve never written about it before, but I still have to make my clients look and sound like genius’s. That’s the life of a ghost writer. But I’m thrilled to be writing anything. So I’m not writing the great American novel. Yes, I tried but I have these strange beings in my house who seem to think they have to eat everyday AND wear clean clothes. Man!!!

I like to rummage through the various sites for writers all across the Internet. Most writers forums are basically like walking into a bookstore full of those uppity-ups that think their smarter than you because they use big words. Hey buddy, read my lips, unless you’re making a million bucks telling everyone else what they’re doing wrong, shut the hell up. I have no patients for people who think their better than everyone else, especially when they’re 20 years younger than I am. No, I didn’t go to Harvard or Yale, but I pushed two living, breathing human beings out of my body and I did it without drugs. I wanted drugs, but that’s a different story.

I guess I’m just getting old. I hate getting old, but at the same time I’m starting to see some advantages to it. I now understand all those weird sayings that used to come out of my father’s mouth. I’m finally at an age where I can look forward to my children moving out on their own, and actually enjoy the idea. I’m almost old enough to qualify for life insurance without a medical exam, and I can finally tell my mother to quit complaining because “I have the same problem and bitching don’t help”.

I guess my problem isn’t with the pieces that these young writers are putting out there, I have an issue with the way they do it. I never thought I’d be the “old chic” sitting in the back of the room wondering why the hell I came to this show. I always imagined myself the young, hip chic who knew it all. Well, I finally do know it all. Too bad I lost all the damn questions.

Do you still believe in your dreams? I do. I run another blog called The Prompt Writer where I offer writing prompts, or ideas, to other writers. This week’s theme was believing in your dreams and I got the coolest comment from a gal called T-Geek Girl. She said becoming a writer has always been her biggest dream, and that’s exactly how I feel.

I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was about 10 years old. I realized early on that I had a knack for creating fantasy world and imaginary people. Though I have older sisters, I spent most of my younger years alone. Because of that, I created friends to play with and entire worlds around them. Eventually, I found out that some people actually got paid to do just that.

I had one real problem though, I totally hated school. I found out from 7th grade on that there was a whole lot of things to do that were way more fun. Like a total moron, I quit school half way through my junior year, but I never quit writing. A couple years later, I met the man I would eventually end up marrying. We had a couple of kids and went to great lengths to make sure they had way better lives than either one of us had. But, I never quit writing.

Shortly after my son was born, I began writing a romance on an old manual typewriter. I gave me a chance to go back to those imaginary worlds I had created so many years before, and improve upon each and every word. I once again invented friends and enemies that came to feel almost real. But it wasn’t until we got our first computer that every thing I’d ever dreamed of finally came into focus.

I got my first computer in 1997, and I never looked back. Since that time, I’ve written several short stories, poems, and hundreds of articles. But more than that, I’ve been paid to do so. And as far as I’m concerned, that means I’ve managed to see my dream come full circle. I may not be the next Jackie Collins or Stephan King, but I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m getting paid in the process. And honestly, isn’t that what it’s all about???

I have always been a history buff.  Oddly though, not all history interests me.  I’m an ancient history fanatic, and the further back in time we go, the better I like it.  My biggest dream is to some day get to go to the British Isles and see some of the most historic places for myself.  Of course, I’d love to see Stonehenge, but there are so many other stone henges around the British Isles and most people don’t even realize that.

I’d also love to go to Malta.  I remember when I was a kid, my grandmother was a big fan of the movie “The Maltese Falcon”.  Honestly, to this day I’ve never seen the movie.  But I was shocked to find out that the island of Malta is thought to have been one of the first bases of civilization in Europe.  Some of the ruins they’ve found on the island date back to more than 5,000 years BC.  They’ve also found tons of little statutettes that resemble a woman’s figure.  Because of this, many scholars have thought that it was a matriarchal society.  In other words, women ran the show in those days, but this is just a hypothosis.

While looking for more information on ancient “stuff”, I did run across a pretty cool new site.  It’s called the Virtual Museum, and it’s filled with pictures and information about hundreds of societies that flurished across Europe since the dawn of time.  Some of the objects are deemed to be more than 40,000 years old.  However, the site is rather new and there is still alot of work being done.  But it’s still a pretty cool place to check out.  Especially if you’re like me and don’t see yourself getting to Europe anytime soon.  So, for now I’ll just bookmark this site and live vicariously though it.  I have no life. 

I am once again working on opening a new online store.  Not an auction site, but a real storefront type place.  I have one store on another site, but I don’t want to put all my eggs into one basket, so to speak.  So, I’ve been doing some research into different sites and have found one that I think is a pretty good place.  The site is called Bonazle.com and it seems decent, which is why I went ahead and created my own booth called Prairied Treasures.

One of the things I look for is base price.  I’m a bottom-line-it kinda person.  The thing I like about this site is that there are no fees for listing items.  You can add as many items to your personal page as you want, without having to pay for little things like adding pictures and such.  As far as ending fees, there are some but they’re not bad.  They way they figure ending costs is by combining the total for the product and the shipping costs.  Anything under $10 will cost 50 cents.  From $10 to $50 will cost $1, and so on.  The high end is that anything over $1000 will cost you $10.

Another feature of this site is the option to have Bonanzas.  This is a super mini auction that can last anywhere from 1-3 hours.  Though I doubt I’ll be using this feature anytime soon, it’s a great way to bring in extra sales for those who enjoy the auction atmosphere.

The one thing I like most about this site is that you can choose your selling options.  You can only sell to those in your own country, or choose International shipping.  They also give you several ideas on how to promote your site to bring in more customers.  Plus, there is a great forum area filled with like-minded sellers who are more than happy to help you along.

So, if you’re looking for a place to set up shop, or you’re just looking for a place to start doing your Christmas shopping, I recommend checking out Bonazle.com.  And while you’re there, be sure to stop by my booth and say hi.