tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37897120042900207462024-02-19T00:02:05.172-05:00Kelly Metzaffordable and customizable packages available <br>
contact me for more informationKelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-76684716453169568932013-09-18T15:25:00.000-04:002013-09-18T15:25:37.948-04:00Flash Fiction Challenge: Spin the Wheel of ConflictI've been trying to come up with content for the online component of a my local writer's group when I happened upon <a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/blog/" target="_blank">Chuck Wendig's blog</a>. This, in and of itself, is not abnormal. I frequently direct my fellow author friends to his website for writing advice, as well as his spectacular use of profanity. It's rather impressive. But I happened upon the blog, looking for a topic to post about in the facebook group, when I saw this <a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/09/13/flash-fiction-challenge-spin-the-wheel-of-conflict/" target="_blank">weekly challenge</a>. So I challenged them to partake, and of course, had to participate myself.<br />
<br />
So, without further ado, my attempt at the flash fiction prompt:<br />
<br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know something is wrong before I roll over to discover the
bed empty. It could be nothing, I tell myself. Could be. But there’s this
feeling deep inside, this knowledge that began as a tiny grain of sand and,
through time and ignorance coating layer after layer, has grown. It’s easy to
ignore a grain of sand. Harder to discount the boulder.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I push the feeling down and stretch sore muscles, fleeting
memories still weighed down with sleep, flashing over my skin. A touch here. A
kiss there. So much passion and pleasure.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The comforter lay crumpled at the foot of the bed. When I
stretched, the sheet had retreated down to pool around my waist but the warmth
of the room makes both unneeded. Still, with the temporary absence of body, I
pull both the sheet and comforter to my chin. The room is dark and heavy with
night. Sleep. I should go back to sleep and when I wake, they will be there.
Just as they have been every morning for the past few months.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The nagging feeling will not submit. I curl onto my side,
peering into the dark. Slowly, the outline of the door to the bath emerges from
the gloom. Empty. I place a hand on the vacant space beside me on the bed. Its
warmth is long gone. I don’t need to check the other side to discover the same.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I hate that I feel the creep of suspicion instead of lazy
content. My imagination has served jealousy instead of love. Fear instead of
acceptance. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I asked for this. I arranged this. I made it happen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Me. Me. Me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was there in the stolen touches that went unnoticed in a
bonfire of lust. Covert glances across a room. Simple generosity of
out-of-the-way gestures. Invisible lines forbidden to cross. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After all this time, how could those lines still not be
crossed?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some random light glints off the ring on the fourth finger
of my left hand. It shimmers under the tilt of my hand, a pulsing reminder of
permanence and commitment. But did it still mean the same? Before I dared to
want more? For me?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">him</i>?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I fling back the covers and rise to my feet. With the icy unwelcome
of jealousy coursing through me, I reach for a robe. Cinching it closed, I
inhale the intoxicating scent of him—earth and spice and the rawness of male.
He smells so different from my husband, who prefers expensive colognes and
musk-scented soap. I can still taste him on lips, still feel his hands on my
body.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Disgust at my insecurity almost sends me back to bed.
Almost.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My feet skim the carpeted stairs. Fingers rest lightly on
the banister. Each breath is held—not for silence, but for despair. So afraid
to make a sound, so afraid of what I’ll find.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At last in the foyer, I pause. Light spills across the wood
floor, falling through the arch of the family room. Quiet sounds follow, that
of a television turned low. On hushed steps, I slip to the entrance, resting a
shoulder against the jamb in relief. My mouth opens to announce myself, but I
don’t, just wanting a moment of voyeuristic peace.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shame creeps in the wake of relief and disgust. How could I
have questioned them? Jealousy can make you see things that aren’t there, I
know that, but that it could shake something I thought so impervious makes me
humble. I am playing with fire, and where there is fire, someone is going to
get burned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They are sitting on the sofa, their backs to me. One dark
head, one fair, illuminated by the table lamp beside them and the television in
front. Adam leans forward, reaching for something on the coffee table. Seth
raises both arms, stretching taunt muscles and uttering a soft groan that goes
straight to my middle. A smile curves my lips as I imagine myself walking
around the sofa and giving them something other than an old movie to occupy the
early hours.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then Adam leans back into the sofa. And Seth’s arms drop,
stretching one across the back of the sofa behind my husband.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The boulder returns and brings a few friends.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His hand lifts almost subconsciously, not quite cradling the
back of Adam’s head, hovering just over his blonde hair. A hesitation, though
neither acknowledge the suspended moment that Adam pretends he doesn’t notice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Suddenly the fingers clench into a fist, supple muscles of
his bare arm going rigid. Seth forces his fingers wide, returning them to the
neutral back of the sofa instead of my husband’s hair. He tilts his head to the
side, says something to Adam who laughs quietly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is not enough air in the world to breathe. Back
against the wall, the damning sight hidden from view, I struggle to stay
upright. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I shouldn’t feel like this, shouldn’t begrudge them a
connection that doesn’t involve me. Adam and I are married, yes, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i> asked for this. I did this. I made
this possible.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I never imagined…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leaning around the corner, I see I’m not the only one having
an epiphany. Inches apart, they’re facing each other, television long forgotten.
The light has played a harsh trick, shrouding their expressions but I can read
enough tension in the shoulders, the harsh rise and fall of their chests. Maybe
it’s the shadows messing with me, but I think Adam leans forward, a fraction of
an inch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They move at the same time, turning to look over the sofa.
At me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I lower the hand that had clamped over my mouth when I
gasped. Movements in sync again, they push to their feet, the sofa a physical
barrier to the space ripped wide between us. I don’t know what to say, if
anything. And when my husband breaks the stillness to push past me and leave
Seth, I can only think: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My fault. I did this.</i></div>
Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-18169556861125241592013-05-02T09:05:00.000-04:002013-05-02T09:06:38.385-04:00The Writer's Voice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyl0Gv6s8vndNQl-MX4zKoziYhhm7eXwCGkJFdBWzd3THQvxgoQs67X6UUFvq4SvuoPxIHq14TyWyhoE3_saVCFc9o3odXPIM7vL5a2zugFdMWaNEL8c2hL6r6SjERXrqCIYPAWMO2Rmur/s1600/The+Writer%27s+Voice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyl0Gv6s8vndNQl-MX4zKoziYhhm7eXwCGkJFdBWzd3THQvxgoQs67X6UUFvq4SvuoPxIHq14TyWyhoE3_saVCFc9o3odXPIM7vL5a2zugFdMWaNEL8c2hL6r6SjERXrqCIYPAWMO2Rmur/s1600/The+Writer's+Voice.jpg" /></a></div>
Welcome to my entry for <a href="http://motherwrite.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-writers-voice-details.html" target="_blank">The Writer's Voice</a>, a multi-blog, multi-agent contest hosted Cupid of <a href="http://cupidslitconnection.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Cupid's Literary Connection</a>, Brenda Drake of <a href="http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Brenda Drake Writes</a>, Monica B. W. of <a href="http://monibw.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Love YA</a> and Krista Van Dolzer of <a href="http://motherwrite.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mother. Write. (Repeat.)</a>. Good luck to all the participants!<br />
<br />
REMEMBERED<br />
YA Paranormal Romance<br />
<br />
Query:<br />
AJ Ashford curses too much, is failing French, and holds top spot on her
principal’s shitlist. She’d much rather play guitar than conjugate
verbs, but when said conjugation is interrupted by a creature only she
can see, the resultant spaz-attack sends her freak status at school
rocketing, until she silences the star quarterback with her right hook. <br />
<br />
Xander Sorokin, prince and future commander of the demon-hunting
Sentinels, is wanted for the murder of his foster father by the very
people he was destined to lead. Hunted by his closest friends, he
searches for answers to questions no one is asking. Until he meets AJ
and her black eye, and his need to defend the weak awakens for the first
time since his escape.<br />
<br />
Only AJ doesn’t do demure damsel; she prefers to swing the verbal ax. <br />
<br />
With
AJ’s rejection still stinging, Xander’s past slips into the seat across
from him, armed and dangerous. He evades capture only to be ambushed by
demons, an attack which spills over to an innocent. While Xander fights
to pull an unconscious AJ from the resulting car wreck, an angel sends
her back to the land of the living with a mission to help the gorgeous
and chauvinistic Xander. But how can she help when she doesn’t know the
problem? Or when she can’t be in the same room as him without wanting to
slug him…or kiss him? One thing’s for certain, when the two of them get
together, Heaven and Hell better both watch out.<br />
<br />
REMEMBERED, the first book of a young adult paranormal romance
trilogy for fans of Cassandra Clare and Lauren Kate, is complete at
97,000 words.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Prologue<br />
Bitter Victories<br />
<br />
Just outside Paris, France<br />
July 15, 1789<br />
<br />
Gavril rested against the wall, still wearing the clothing from yesterday’s successful raid, his gaze drifting over the courtyard and gallows below. In the early morning light, a slight haze coated the ground, obscuring most of the cottages in the distance. The acrid stench of soot and ash wafted from billows of smoke rising on the eastern horizon.<br />
<br />
“Why does it vex you so?”<br />
<br />
King Ivan’s smooth voice echoed against the stone, accentuating both the size and emptiness of the hall. Word had come late yesterday about the Bastille in Paris, but the news had been dwarfed by the celebration here. <br />
<br />
Gavril frowned at the small crowd already gathered around the gallows. “How could it not?” <br />
<br />
Restrained anger made his French clumsy. Gavril struggled to control the disdain, knowing he shouldn’t direct it towards his king. He wasn’t angry with him, not angry with anyone in particular…except maybe himself for being this weak. <br />
<br />
The king approached with a measured pace, his age just beginning to show in the slightly stiffened movements. Even decades removed from the field, he was still as deadly as the Sentinel army his council oversaw, the same warriors Gavril fought beside. The king’s wizened face held the emotional control of the politician he had become in order to lead, but his eyes betrayed his confusion. He genuinely didn’t understand Gavril.<br />
<br />
That made two of them.<br />
<br />
“She’s just a girl,” Gavril said before he could think.<br />
<br />
“Is that why you failed to finish the task?”Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-78843125296129529992012-08-30T16:57:00.000-04:002012-08-30T16:57:03.229-04:00ContestVisit my friends at The Fiction Femme Fatale to win some ARCs or critiques! <a href="http://www.fictionfemmefatale.blogspot.com/2012/08/our-second-giveaway.html" target="_blank">Visit their site to win!</a>Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-11072587131018523242012-08-29T13:11:00.002-04:002012-08-29T13:12:59.003-04:0035 Word PitchSo I'm attemtping to condense my adult UF into a 35-word or less pitch. I've narrowed it down to two choices, and I'm looking for feedback. Please vote on which one you think works better. If you have comments or suggestions, please feel free to unleash your inner editor in the comments.<br />
<br />
Title: A Taste of Blood<br />
Genre: Urban Fantasy<br />
<br />
<br />
Pitch Number One (34 words): <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When Alex Callahan’s werewolf father reveals her friend’s murder, Alex knows he’s the key to avoiding a brewing supernatural war. But he’s been dead for thirteen years and no one else believes he’s back.</span></div>
<br />
Pitch Number Two (35 words): <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Twin brother joins local pack? Normal. Dead dad walks into a bar? Not really. Investigating makes human Alex the next target in a brewing supernatural war she can prevent. If only the pack believed her…</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<form accept-charset="utf-8" action="http://www.freeblogpolls.com/votes" class="content" id="poll_id_1251320" method="post" name="new_vote">
<div style="display: none;">
<input name="_method" type="hidden" value="POST" /></div>
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<input id="new_votePollId" name="data[new_vote][poll_id]" type="hidden" value="1251320" /> <br />
<div style="color: #a87afa; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.freeblogpolls.com/polls/1251320-which-pitch-should-be-used">Which pitch should be used?</a> </div>
<ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 10px;">
<li style="color: #3a555c; text-align: left;"><input id="vote_choice_id_6957715" name="data[new_vote][choice_id]" type="radio" value="6957715" /> Option 1 </li>
<li style="color: #3a555c; text-align: left;"><input id="vote_choice_id_6957716" name="data[new_vote][choice_id]" type="radio" value="6957716" /> Option 2 </li>
<li style="color: #3a555c; text-align: left;"><input id="vote_choice_id_6957717" name="data[new_vote][choice_id]" type="radio" value="6957717" /> Neither, they both suck </li>
<li style="color: #3a555c; text-align: left;"><input id="vote_choice_id_6957718" name="data[new_vote][choice_id]" type="radio" value="6957718" /> I wrote one better in the comments. </li>
</ul>
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<input id="submit_1251320" name="commit" type="submit" value="Vote!" /> </div>
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<a href="http://www.freeblogpolls.com/" style="color: #3a555c;">Freeblogpolls</a> </div>
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More polls: <img height="1" src="http://www.freeblogpolls.com/advertising/advertising/spy/id-25.png" width="1" /><a href="http://snabblånnu.se/" style="color: black; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: none;">snabbIännu.se</a> </div>
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Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-8927802531990013952012-05-11T08:43:00.001-04:002012-05-11T08:47:55.539-04:00Top Ten Things I Learned<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsU_pQvPHoBymaUVAS8LADSKEdA1R195aGXJVeO4HkIPEtlSUu_0FZzfeLHKwUsEudD_LkaLPcOkMkNmY_DushoFW0dpcP-xLM3W5t3d68MlHcEYcJy8lZfZi5KrUxT3ytRobKHoYpZXv7/s1600/Top_10_List4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsU_pQvPHoBymaUVAS8LADSKEdA1R195aGXJVeO4HkIPEtlSUu_0FZzfeLHKwUsEudD_LkaLPcOkMkNmY_DushoFW0dpcP-xLM3W5t3d68MlHcEYcJy8lZfZi5KrUxT3ytRobKHoYpZXv7/s200/Top_10_List4.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
Top ten things I learned </h2>
<h2>
from participating in </h2>
<h2>
<a href="http://www.motherwrite.blogspot.com/2012/04/writers-voice-details.html" target="_blank">The Writer’s Voice</a> competition.</h2>
<br />
Last week, I entered into a multi-blog writing contest in hopes of landing on a talented team, to be coached and then showed off to agents. To see my entry, click <a href="http://www.metzphotography.blogspot.com/2012/05/writers-voice.html" target="_blank">here</a>. For more information on the contest, you can check out the above link. In fact, go check it out and click through the multiple posts about the contest and other teams so you can see the talented authors who made it to the coaching round and read their entries. I'll wait. <br />
<br />
*whistles* <br />
<br />
Done? Good. Maybe you learned the same things I did.<br />
<br />
<h3>
1. There is some seriously amazing, unrecognized talent out there.</h3>
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
200 entries does not the entirety of publishing encompass. But of those entries, most were polished until they shined, had great ideas, had characters that jumped off the page, and openings that hooked me in the first paragraph. I was flabbergasted that some of them did not already have an agent and/or a book deal already. Serious talent. I was awed being one amongst them, and some of them were so awesomely wrought , they made me feel like I didn’t know my craft. Kudos to my peers on a job well done. I have much to which to learn and aspire.</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0-0QNA81BWBCRZXetYd5WC9PO1F1s1fpU6O6tjkv2sAPSyLc5zVPFKY3_F8QJ6AAb2Q4TXs14lKSL1jhyge3fE4H84EJ1z5c2ykXIzvvYWrGU_Yz7cGSnyilLoM3e9pkSft8oWBEhfNU/s1600/3-paper-stack1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0-0QNA81BWBCRZXetYd5WC9PO1F1s1fpU6O6tjkv2sAPSyLc5zVPFKY3_F8QJ6AAb2Q4TXs14lKSL1jhyge3fE4H84EJ1z5c2ykXIzvvYWrGU_Yz7cGSnyilLoM3e9pkSft8oWBEhfNU/s200/3-paper-stack1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<h3 style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
2. The part of me that wants to be a slush pile reader squeed in glee, and then cowered in fear at what agents/publishers face every day.</h3>
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
I joke that I the job I would love to do every day (aside from owning my own bookstore) is a slush reader. I’d love to read through submissions, pulling out the great ones and passing them along. But how do you take the good, the great and the awesome and separate them? How do you pick which one among so many possibilities gets your attention and which ones don’t? It would be extremely difficult, and I don’t envy their position. Just like I didn’t envy the judges for The Writer’s Voice contest, having to narrow down the 200 entries to only 40. Because…</div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
3. Good writing isn’t always enough.</h3>
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
Sometime the concept is old, there’s not enough of a twist, the market has shifted...yada, yada. The judges, and consequently the agents and publishers, aren’t looking for more of the same. They’re looking for the next best thing that can sell, that has a place in the market. It’s a business decision, and sometimes, the business can’t focus solely on good writing. </div>
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpHqLEJJh6p0UxJfmVpj-F3okErSCxDCGOIJzUqmArxjXTxQlUrcEzSicWUhbBgRvI5nICn7WHLixU-i0SaYtW-Pz7c7ladF_Ym6HegvvlLv8Woa6UtOp_s9W_iCaZAhKGdq5tu7zLgrK/s1600/dr_who.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpHqLEJJh6p0UxJfmVpj-F3okErSCxDCGOIJzUqmArxjXTxQlUrcEzSicWUhbBgRvI5nICn7WHLixU-i0SaYtW-Pz7c7ladF_Ym6HegvvlLv8Woa6UtOp_s9W_iCaZAhKGdq5tu7zLgrK/s200/dr_who.jpe" width="200" /></a></div>
<h3>
4. New teeth are weird. </h3>
<br />
Wait, that’s my new Dr. Who obsession I acquired trying to avoid The Writer’s Voice hashtag on twitter showing itself.<br />
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<h3>
5. YA/MG market is growing fast.</h3>
<br />
Everyone wants YA and middle grade. I’m not 100% sure of the exact mixture, but a vast majority of the 40 that made the next round were YA/MG manuscripts. Does that mean there’s no room for my adult urban fantasy? No, but maybe I ought to polish my YA and start querying that as well.<br />
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<h3>
6. There are some seriously funny, and seriously disturbed writers out there. </h3>
<br />
I followed new blogs and twitter personalities because of this contest. I got lost on twitter just watching the crazy antics of some. Writers are a separate breed: a little crazy, a little schizo, a little nerdy, a little genius, a little obsessive, majorly passionate and I love you all!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXcXBmWyp25rLQg3pFuc5CcJxyf92RCcP0Ikom5tl0YQ5RmuE_Ujw7ttxORaRU88AOlvt2avpgHVI4xYquhpdcfbKhKJrNROi3gMm7IBiG7D7dEqTRCEOdpCuZfM4d9czPnRD5oLJHbEm/s1600/Sonic_screwdriver_-_Doomsday.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXcXBmWyp25rLQg3pFuc5CcJxyf92RCcP0Ikom5tl0YQ5RmuE_Ujw7ttxORaRU88AOlvt2avpgHVI4xYquhpdcfbKhKJrNROi3gMm7IBiG7D7dEqTRCEOdpCuZfM4d9czPnRD5oLJHbEm/s200/Sonic_screwdriver_-_Doomsday.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<h3>
7. A sonic screwdriver fixes everything (unless it has a deadlock seal). </h3>
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And so do beta readers, and crit partners and the supportive writing community. I love my writing group at the Kelley Armstrong website; they have taught me so much. And I can see the fanatic support and results of other writer’s CPs in these entries and on twitter. If you write, find a home. It takes a group to raise a writer.<br />
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<h3>
8. This was A chance. Not THE chance.</h3>
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There are many other contests, and queries, and agents, and publishers out there. Just because my piece didn’t move on, doesn’t mean I’m done (though I thought that several times this past weekend.) <br />
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<h3>
9. I’m about three to five years too late…</h3>
<br />
but that’s not going to stop me (or you) from trying. What didn’t work here, may work for others. Sometimes, good writing is enough.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtmHPDRoeaZdKwa8fzQBPBxExT5UYDY9F0rgSmVGaZqXELbgdur8-KatSr-gKepQNW0gtWrL5-IjSYVL5qspMnM6M6Dr6ntW2j0mkxOUJNoMeVwDOFtg5FgN971qeuOupwbVEu0mRbl8I/s1600/il_fullxfull_313104133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtmHPDRoeaZdKwa8fzQBPBxExT5UYDY9F0rgSmVGaZqXELbgdur8-KatSr-gKepQNW0gtWrL5-IjSYVL5qspMnM6M6Dr6ntW2j0mkxOUJNoMeVwDOFtg5FgN971qeuOupwbVEu0mRbl8I/s200/il_fullxfull_313104133.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
<h3>
10. The Doctor is rude. Not Ginger.</h3>
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And so am I. <br />
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<br />Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-35429325946661467542012-05-03T09:06:00.001-04:002012-05-05T15:04:59.764-04:00Writer's Voice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm partcipating in a multi-blog contest known as <a href="http://www.motherwrite.blogspot.com/2012/04/writers-voice-details.html" target="_blank">The Writer's Voice</a>. Below is my entry and all cheerleading and comments are welcomed! Good luck to the other participants and thank you to <a href="http://www.motherwrite.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Krista Van Dolzer</a>, <a href="http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Brenda Drake</a>, <a href="http://monibw.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Monica B.W</a>, and <a href="http://cupidslitconnection.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Cupid</a> for organzing this amazing competition.<br />
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<br />
A Taste of Blood<br />
Urban Fantasy<br />
<br />Alexandra Callahan knows the monsters hiding under the boardwalk are real; she just overlooks the fact her twin is one of them. Instead, she treats her mooching werewolf brother the same as any other family member who eats all the food and won’t do the dishes: with heavy doses of sarcasm, practical jokes, and a whole lot of ignoring the paranormal. But when their deceased father leads Alex to the murder scene of her friend Maddie, she can’t ignore Aaron’s furry side any longer. Not when a werewolf almost bites her head off and she stabs another in the face. <br />
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And those were the good guys.<br />
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Alex didn’t inherit the gene that makes her brother howl at the moon, but she definitely acquired the accompanying stubbornness and loyalty. Despite the pack’s claim otherwise, she’s convinced her dad is alive and knows something about Maddie’s death. Since he’s only appeared to Alex, finding him is up to her. It isn’t long before Alex contracts a maligned spell, pisses off the pack’s enforcer, attracts the attention of their devious wolfwitch, and becomes a Master Vampire’s thrall, all while pitching her advertising agency to a potential mega-client. When she confronts the wolfwitch about his secrets on the night of the full moon, a battle of wills becomes a battle within Alex’s body. The moon always wins. <br />
<br />
Alex’s unveiling as the first natural female werewolf is sidelined when a pack member dies protecting her, forcing the pack to look within their ranks for a traitor. Betrayed by someone she trusted, Alex discovers the past never dies and what you don’t know <em>will</em> kill you. The Jersey Shore isn’t just for tourists and MTV anymore. The Jersey Shore has teeth.<br />
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A TASTE OF BLOOD, complete at 116,000 words, is an urban fantasy for adults who like their fiction more furry than undead. <br />
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<br />
<br />
Chapter One<br />
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The last time I saw my father, I broke my brother’s nose. Aaron simply wiped the blood on his suit’s sleeve and pulled me into a hug while I sobbed. As far as irrational outbursts went, it was spectacular, but we were twelve, at our father’s funeral and both a little emotional. Aaron just handled it better. Thirteen years later, he still did but I think even Aaron might have had something to say when Dad walked into Sawyers. <br />
<br />
Martini glass pressed to my lips, I stared at the hooded figure sliding through the bar. His average height, dark shirt and jeans blended with the masses, but I thought I’d seen his face. He moved with purpose, the crowd parting like the Red Sea, as if they knew there’d be problems if they didn’t. <br />
<br />
Invoking time-faded memories, the gait and crowd response raised the hair on the back of my neck. The conversation between my two best friends faded into the rest of the din. With shaking hands, I settled my glass on the table before I dropped it. Besides, the martini had already sloshed and no matter what anyone said, wasting a drink like that was sacrilege.<br />
<br />
No. This wasn’t happening. The dead just didn’t casually stroll into a bar. My subconscious was projecting. It was dark; I couldn’t see. I was drunk. Daydreaming even. I threw explanations at myself, hoping one would stick, but apparently my brain was made of Teflon tonight.<br />
<br />
“Alex? Earth to Alex.”<br />
<br />
“Must have sighted a hottie.”<br />
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<br />Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-38160695297828120112012-03-22T09:38:00.000-04:002012-03-22T09:38:00.259-04:00Lucky 7: A sneak peek at RememberedHmmm, perhaps this is <a href="http://www.selestedelaney.com/" target="_blank">Seleste deLaney's</a> way of telling me that I need to blog more. (BTW, shameless and unsolicited plug for this author: you need to read her. <3)<br />
<br />
The rules:<br />
<br />
Go to page 77 of your current WiP.<br />
Go to line 7.<br />
Copy down the next 7 lines/sentences, and post them as they're written. No cheating.<br />
Tag 7 other sadists, I mean writers.<br />
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<br />
Since both my WiP's are in edit stages, I grabbed the one I haven't started hacking at yet. My young adult paranormal romance Remembered, the first in a planned trilogy.<br />
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The room was dim, and finally quiet. Leaning back into the chair, Xander rested his cheek against his fist and fought the wave of exhaustion pouring over his weary body. The fight had taken more effort than he’d been prepared for. The crash had taken the rest. Xander had been running on pure adrenaline since AJ had uttered his name in the ambulance. He should return to his apartment, steal a few hours sleep and go north as he’d planned, but he couldn’t find the strength to leave.<br />
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<br />
Amazing, the power of hearing one’s name in so unexpected a moment.<br />
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<br />
<br />
And now for the commiseration: <br />
@angbuf <br />
@bulletwisdom <br />
@susankmann <br />
@michellemuto <br />
@crosbywrites <br />
@pschnyder <br />
@pathollettKelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-58512432385603554452011-10-15T18:10:00.000-04:002011-10-15T18:10:57.590-04:00Brittney & Rodney - October 1st<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLnKi1TlzJn1PRAVl7Z51xragaJhOkUn290TC0m4fFvY5HVnLyByHD1O7geK0I9q3khXKIUDZ7AU4L4khGHmpU_PBtkRnCLdk1r42QYqZGa03uFZjZr8_JF7igcaInVgYCsmqEOigoxb-k/s1600/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_013blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLnKi1TlzJn1PRAVl7Z51xragaJhOkUn290TC0m4fFvY5HVnLyByHD1O7geK0I9q3khXKIUDZ7AU4L4khGHmpU_PBtkRnCLdk1r42QYqZGa03uFZjZr8_JF7igcaInVgYCsmqEOigoxb-k/s320/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_013blog.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">October brings colorful leaves, cooler weather, and sometimes, when the stars align, whirlwind romances. </div></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Rodney and Brittney may not have known each other long, but when you meet the right person, you know it, right down to the speeding of your heart and the curl in your toes when you kiss. </div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Take a look into the start of something beautiful.</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Thank you for choosing me to be a part of your beginnings. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">May your love know no end.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-zzMrvZopoJ7oorVivaqnPvW_YlCo6-2SM0Q-jYzNkOh3MteC7oQfdcW4FxlRrtjFRJhPCSLem0Y6KIn6TvzdHcBTtDNsNu2ksZ9NWu9BbEMFGByTn9q5Aiia7JMHJSi7umrdjCtVoCQ/s1600/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_001blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-zzMrvZopoJ7oorVivaqnPvW_YlCo6-2SM0Q-jYzNkOh3MteC7oQfdcW4FxlRrtjFRJhPCSLem0Y6KIn6TvzdHcBTtDNsNu2ksZ9NWu9BbEMFGByTn9q5Aiia7JMHJSi7umrdjCtVoCQ/s320/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_001blog.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhztcdDOct-VkmKjc08CSWpX2CbyoW9hYAvFmVdSnI1C2DLz24AOYIaSUUBpSEDT9VxLZLGXMSjWd-MC_bPCrYy6tugv1gRSGvcGloDJgunGOs8Pd9DNGiiZvWhT9Bcmbs09mhwOa18VNYu/s1600/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_061blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRzlj2UHaXiuErIlvuY4pemBS72Lg1GDUNTJjzFexL29C3gN1lnyZp_qha8-0v-LnPZs5NhYLKHd5vfgYV9BfIDQKdFv1LLbrGxRnMm8WqaSz1JSD2xlAZKLYkyeX6uDJ7c0Hdygnw35O/s1600/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_130blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRzlj2UHaXiuErIlvuY4pemBS72Lg1GDUNTJjzFexL29C3gN1lnyZp_qha8-0v-LnPZs5NhYLKHd5vfgYV9BfIDQKdFv1LLbrGxRnMm8WqaSz1JSD2xlAZKLYkyeX6uDJ7c0Hdygnw35O/s320/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_130blog.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-RfnPtl1KdAQ_EeAaLjZo5Ao91OdgSXrCNpKMPuIOdMQi51srvVuJkYxfMf0b-HLaxBItA8vNcUoHmtWLeAEkQ6PHrhklIf2h3ndhrnEEEOgyEtDrk4VO4r8664vxwFHHmv5cVOzg-SU/s1600/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_039blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8d8XLPsrANA8XxbG-ZJUHu9_vccIysfY262tYBtjeBwV3xEwm2NL5qfJRaLXTDNNGgqBLGZibjnKgTpVe2dct1jj3v5A1YEi5kKZA1mApze1N-M7DKe8lfuMy2K3Jg3PDpL9BKA7x8Ad/s1600/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_121blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8d8XLPsrANA8XxbG-ZJUHu9_vccIysfY262tYBtjeBwV3xEwm2NL5qfJRaLXTDNNGgqBLGZibjnKgTpVe2dct1jj3v5A1YEi5kKZA1mApze1N-M7DKe8lfuMy2K3Jg3PDpL9BKA7x8Ad/s320/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_121blog.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNETl-sdFM8_BC3rziO-clXHenP-VtTHDG3D3cFPUGfdZ0nc3i6avMiZUqLa2Sz9o7zWrjG7hCVI_hyphenhyphenqqpma3Zz8qlaVyQ39xrm1dcQCGZ8ttQ-CN54YxeQ3hXXvTU5BcLYIrKqFntCDde/s1600/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_027blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNETl-sdFM8_BC3rziO-clXHenP-VtTHDG3D3cFPUGfdZ0nc3i6avMiZUqLa2Sz9o7zWrjG7hCVI_hyphenhyphenqqpma3Zz8qlaVyQ39xrm1dcQCGZ8ttQ-CN54YxeQ3hXXvTU5BcLYIrKqFntCDde/s320/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_027blog.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuePFC9JFSqX0GxkH0-xtqmcm1tt_TVv3jHGNgW8Xffa4w0ht-X8FUhwEMU5j_LDOBclWe_8QhS0VjZYV1it9FVOBnADrLf6j2qD_u_x2lfa_a1GAQrJZpoZbBx8Oneb1TVHWdUrankBH4/s1600/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_133blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuePFC9JFSqX0GxkH0-xtqmcm1tt_TVv3jHGNgW8Xffa4w0ht-X8FUhwEMU5j_LDOBclWe_8QhS0VjZYV1it9FVOBnADrLf6j2qD_u_x2lfa_a1GAQrJZpoZbBx8Oneb1TVHWdUrankBH4/s320/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_133blog.jpg" width="195" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpq1eaxZO9y-r6kk4OC7k1-CBW-eB9oggHN20tGd_6weegdctIOKJFSwGHLjcjabWix00H5WdpTZe80ac3xf9Ks-23SUIUyY6WFB7RLMQGYIJfNJlGk8BFmMi0UOaHO1pwohYX1MQP2XdI/s1600/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_084blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpq1eaxZO9y-r6kk4OC7k1-CBW-eB9oggHN20tGd_6weegdctIOKJFSwGHLjcjabWix00H5WdpTZe80ac3xf9Ks-23SUIUyY6WFB7RLMQGYIJfNJlGk8BFmMi0UOaHO1pwohYX1MQP2XdI/s400/Rodney+%2526+Brittney_084blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com1Mt Joy, PA 17552, USA40.109818 -76.50329959999999140.0981665 -76.540303099999988 40.121469499999996 -76.4662961tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-61482543538325629592011-10-02T17:53:00.000-04:002011-10-02T17:53:06.778-04:00Sneak PeakYes. It's been a while. Yes. There is a reason. One you will know soon. For now, here's a sneak peak at Brittney and Rodney's wedding, married on Ocotber 1st in Mount Joy. Congrats you guys!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6H2s-dXpILW52i00tMAt8gU6mFFN2k6KPb1Y34niZeH6LV3DXpgxGtDf3OmT3rE84aqSFu-hv83uGuES1EDVvgQzIJr1VdW0-GvuKTlwWonJ2Jj1HSAfrWuSOPz_OiBC60FLq8LZTRup/s1600/Picks-19blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6H2s-dXpILW52i00tMAt8gU6mFFN2k6KPb1Y34niZeH6LV3DXpgxGtDf3OmT3rE84aqSFu-hv83uGuES1EDVvgQzIJr1VdW0-GvuKTlwWonJ2Jj1HSAfrWuSOPz_OiBC60FLq8LZTRup/s640/Picks-19blog.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-15203671743601740922011-02-18T10:57:00.000-05:002011-02-18T10:57:07.718-05:00Allison Pang - Brush of DarknessAllison Pang has an interview and giveaway of her book A Brush of Darkness over at My Bookish Ways today! <a class="tweet-url web" href="http://bit.ly/dO3Gvu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f50505;">http://bit.ly/dO3Gvu</span></a><br />
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Check it out, pass it along and maybe win a book!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiujB6GKDow4lIoZ7T5bvWFuNPnSobItg0K7J-q1xwXkqZovN_HWjRvdH3V28wpZJkkEkVWvEXHLFol3sQkt4-dEt2NCGm3nKwFMF3QpemwL7EC5kTh5Sr1C45VtLJaE5C8_UuWFgHvsCo/s1600/A+Brush+of+Darkness+-+final+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiujB6GKDow4lIoZ7T5bvWFuNPnSobItg0K7J-q1xwXkqZovN_HWjRvdH3V28wpZJkkEkVWvEXHLFol3sQkt4-dEt2NCGm3nKwFMF3QpemwL7EC5kTh5Sr1C45VtLJaE5C8_UuWFgHvsCo/s400/A+Brush+of+Darkness+-+final+cover.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><em><strong><u>A Brush of Darkness</u></strong>Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and sexy-as- sin incubus searching for his sister, convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts. Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invade her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish, as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As she is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, Abby realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.</em>Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-38654641370242460302010-12-30T13:08:00.000-05:002010-12-30T13:08:41.206-05:003...2...1...It’s that time of year again. The time where everyone makes over exaggerated promises to themselves under the guise of a fresh start. Convince themselves that this was the time of year they were waiting for. A new beginning. Yes, I’m talking about those dreaded New Year’s Resolutions. I’m a member of that guilty faction, and in order to hold myself somewhat accountable for them, I’m publicly announcing them. Maybe, just maybe I’ll hold to them…until February at least.<br />
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It’s no secret I like urban fantasy. I read urban fantasy. I write urban fantasy. I’m in this little corner of the literate world out there and I feel like I need to stretch a little further. New Year’s Resolution #1 is to <strong>read at least one book a month that is not of the fantasy persuasion</strong>. Last year I read a few. Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol for one…if there’s a second one, I can’t recall. First up for January is either The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or maybe Kelley Armstrong’s Nadia Stafford books. Or maybe even Stephen King’s On Writing. I’ve been meaning to read them, but they keep falling further down my TBR pile. <br />
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New Year’s Resolution #2 is to finally <strong>query my novel</strong>. Either of them. The adult or the YA. Of course that means completeing the first draft of the YA so my betas can have at it or finally finishing the rewrite of my adult urban fantasy that I’ve been “in the middle of” since summer. Of course, this then leads into New Year’s Resolution #3…<br />
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<strong>Write at least 500 new words a day</strong>. The key word here is “new.” Not editing, but actual words. 500 words is a piece of cake…when you actually site down a do it. 500 words a day is roughly 15,000 a month. That’s a lot of words, and by the way, I am giving myself a little leeway on this: if I scrap a scene during my revisions and completely rewrite it, I’m counting that as “new” and not “editing.” Don’t argue. You’ll lose.<br />
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New Year’s Resolution #4 is <strong>attend a con</strong>. There’s actually two that I’m eyeing up because they’re fairly small and relatively close: The Pennwriter’s Conference in Pittsburg in May and the Author’s After Dark conference in Philly in August. Now AAD is a romance conference, but I figure there’s so much to learn that (a) it doesn’t matter and (b) don’t most stories have romantic elements anyways? So it counts, and it’s on the table. Besides, some of the fantasy I read is romance. Though Backspace is having a one day Donald Maas workshop, but the price…*sigh*<br />
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I have other resolutions including getting my website up and running, blogging more, photographing more, losing weight...blah, blah, blah. But those four are my big ones, my goals. If I accomplish nothing else in 2011, I’ll be happy. Scratch that. Ecstatic. What about you? What are your New Year’s Resolutions? Suggestions for my non-urban fantasy reading list? Cons to attend on the East Coast?Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-36491143710198737872010-12-11T10:54:00.002-05:002010-12-11T11:06:06.809-05:00The Silverman Family<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Back before November swept me away, I traveled to New Jersey to visit my brother and his family. I'd been wanting to shoot portraits of them for a while and I finally succeeded. We headed to the ocean, just north of Seaside, and timed it right for great lighting, and beautiful clouds. </div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dxmbd3w-AEwIb19ibllK95Co6GbWnvUUgoObTiJVhooowd-Zcx2qKAdzce-OItAPcChhMB3uYWBxI0RdP_nuD5xEbgR4BpPyLJ4hRF2g1-zQZFKHJrbmfz77HSVi7QfN8L4umiA_YOmq/s1600/Silverman028_blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dxmbd3w-AEwIb19ibllK95Co6GbWnvUUgoObTiJVhooowd-Zcx2qKAdzce-OItAPcChhMB3uYWBxI0RdP_nuD5xEbgR4BpPyLJ4hRF2g1-zQZFKHJrbmfz77HSVi7QfN8L4umiA_YOmq/s320/Silverman028_blog.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doesn't Sydney have the cutest smile? But don't let it fool you.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOab2vq5TQR4r3Wk9Wlx8tNhf-yHJPUEEzRZO5eyEOaDViCg2jTiR_iuXnjgAxaKnGGrFFpbc98fJR7vzcYQUoUfomKgXncr474dnrxUc5a-PGlaFbvWJt5QMXz2JTC8s1UgRQpde5B_xE/s1600/Silverman037_blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOab2vq5TQR4r3Wk9Wlx8tNhf-yHJPUEEzRZO5eyEOaDViCg2jTiR_iuXnjgAxaKnGGrFFpbc98fJR7vzcYQUoUfomKgXncr474dnrxUc5a-PGlaFbvWJt5QMXz2JTC8s1UgRQpde5B_xE/s320/Silverman037_blog.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the happy family, and almost everyone is looking at the camera! LOL. I love the light in this one.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiER2thesja_AUhxzn0w3rrxUlgk80CxpjtHrXGMs7iGHsxyXnkOIaTFH1ndS15GZV-rqPOtOSbiioZrBaciyMWCn0a3f29gKOGc_glToItBgr915tIme6Ne3fURnrPrI93hR0I8BrOA9r4/s1600/Silverman074_blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiER2thesja_AUhxzn0w3rrxUlgk80CxpjtHrXGMs7iGHsxyXnkOIaTFH1ndS15GZV-rqPOtOSbiioZrBaciyMWCn0a3f29gKOGc_glToItBgr915tIme6Ne3fURnrPrI93hR0I8BrOA9r4/s320/Silverman074_blog.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So calm. So peaceful. Such a lie. >:-)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQtZs84iF2W1IH9tmMso3DhbpinmgurGLLqGScv2Mm5899gi8fUZGRxHHSA-TyxTASy8WKid-lMhI630vLkcpybanOfL23Y3u3FLpvBYXCEMDA7Ju6VSvcXFu7_0wz-WY8hoRu95uuoQpy/s1600/Silverman075_blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQtZs84iF2W1IH9tmMso3DhbpinmgurGLLqGScv2Mm5899gi8fUZGRxHHSA-TyxTASy8WKid-lMhI630vLkcpybanOfL23Y3u3FLpvBYXCEMDA7Ju6VSvcXFu7_0wz-WY8hoRu95uuoQpy/s320/Silverman075_blog.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reann and Collin</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYTwGx5k8qNd9T8iejNqAtlmEfDTbIDewXd_z0R3Pl0XSvLjR8k1KfiTgGZw6RePOszporhTzoJU890GN42v-e9gR7PrMnN_TkXvCPKFjDQubpfP74cvLZ-gZqzf5MfmSrwq11IZm2j4pf/s1600/Silverman091_blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYTwGx5k8qNd9T8iejNqAtlmEfDTbIDewXd_z0R3Pl0XSvLjR8k1KfiTgGZw6RePOszporhTzoJU890GN42v-e9gR7PrMnN_TkXvCPKFjDQubpfP74cvLZ-gZqzf5MfmSrwq11IZm2j4pf/s320/Silverman091_blog.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Digging in the sand because you can't go to the beach and not dig a hole. I actually think that's a law.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfoVacPsKLsDwYmCepFKkX1DVMHQM3_wxBZVAX50UNYjZd4pPgruKbZBQ8nfyxvEehhcXCPoZclaj90XkzTdjaJEM2RNdwfNb5ugGACBTcNS6nQyggyLG76W9vjUQTv93pdJLLedCHXyIZ/s1600/Silverman105_blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfoVacPsKLsDwYmCepFKkX1DVMHQM3_wxBZVAX50UNYjZd4pPgruKbZBQ8nfyxvEehhcXCPoZclaj90XkzTdjaJEM2RNdwfNb5ugGACBTcNS6nQyggyLG76W9vjUQTv93pdJLLedCHXyIZ/s320/Silverman105_blog.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite picture.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_c-g7-arLhdPWfk25ChU35IvIUy-sOD_3Xk76ymPkrkWzO6CwIdPORFA8IC6qEwWCwTHlP56NYL9_K-nScHl6yP7LlCmpicFGZTuAvFc4AohwomGOoaeAjykZOStlPVbLYypxyVvKkvA/s1600/Silverman128_blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_c-g7-arLhdPWfk25ChU35IvIUy-sOD_3Xk76ymPkrkWzO6CwIdPORFA8IC6qEwWCwTHlP56NYL9_K-nScHl6yP7LlCmpicFGZTuAvFc4AohwomGOoaeAjykZOStlPVbLYypxyVvKkvA/s320/Silverman128_blog.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's just sizing up his escape and plans for world domination. That's all.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikfZFD8X4N5Y304wQX28aHt82e2EUK2aPBL7uz_m9CaevsOILfslXV7E3-rkbgKIKvCOyQmizd6RjfLINAWjrt2VGVoRzWhhob9CXJ37gsvg1-nT7oksPyFvbStBnn2fl1jJk9rg-a64iD/s1600/Silverman130_blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikfZFD8X4N5Y304wQX28aHt82e2EUK2aPBL7uz_m9CaevsOILfslXV7E3-rkbgKIKvCOyQmizd6RjfLINAWjrt2VGVoRzWhhob9CXJ37gsvg1-nT7oksPyFvbStBnn2fl1jJk9rg-a64iD/s320/Silverman130_blog.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zee plane! Zee plane! No, Sydney. That's a kite.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I love you guys, and yes, even you Jeff, though you constantly beat me up and I have to threaten abuse charges. <br />
But that's what family's for, right?</div>Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-43936827397071362752010-12-02T15:30:00.000-05:002010-12-02T15:30:31.508-05:00RecoveryThere are certain times of the year that cause havoc for any number of reasons. Approaching the holiday season, such as now, is one of them for most. But not for me.<br />
<br />
Because the moment December rolls around, I can breathe just a little easier. You see, my full time day job hits its busiest time of the year in November and then almost dies to nothing in December. Compound that with an extremely heavy October, and I’ve had eight weeks of insane work. At the one job.<br />
<br />
I also picked up a part time job surrounding myself with books at a local bookstore. The benefits and enjoyment of being surrounded by something I love to spend my free doing (reading / writing) outweighed the meager earnings and loss of free time. I enjoy the job. And adding 15-20 more hours of work to my schedule.<br />
<br />
And of course, there was <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/">NaNoWriMo</a>. What’s that you may ask? It’s short for National Novel Writing Month, which is, naturally, November. You are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in only 30 days. The breakneck speed and time limit forces you to turn off the web surfing, stop playing on facebook and twitter, put words to page and edit later. I attempted it last year and won, so naturally I had to try again this year. On top of my now 70 hour work week. Did I cross the finish line? Absolutely. But only just and there were more than a few times I didn’t think I’d make it.<br />
<br />
A few things were sacrificed for time. My blog for one has not been updated (until now). Content for my new site launching soon has been temporarily placed on hold. I haven’t read a new book since before October. I reread Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series gearing up for Last Sacrifice’s release next week and did not read anything during November. Fixed that already, having just finished JR Ward’s Crave. My house…yeah. Let’s not go there and just say that my vacation time I’m using during this month is not only for my writing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJ3AJ5TtylOmYNKFPFpYGNR5EM9-nBS-KLugjma1ISRXhkOA862QUW_c7gM2-Z79IDUuWonR9jPlTEMEyBf-FKJ85V3hKPfhiAZPcfmmw7LlKun9w8cKPUWkOLcNF4mVcw0HP5VxMPO88/s1600/Silverman_tease.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJ3AJ5TtylOmYNKFPFpYGNR5EM9-nBS-KLugjma1ISRXhkOA862QUW_c7gM2-Z79IDUuWonR9jPlTEMEyBf-FKJ85V3hKPfhiAZPcfmmw7LlKun9w8cKPUWkOLcNF4mVcw0HP5VxMPO88/s320/Silverman_tease.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My siser-in-law and nephew</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">November was intense. Fast paced. Stress-filled. It almost got to me. So while everyone is gearing up for Christmas and the stress of shopping, I’m in my recovery zone. Cleaning up from November’s mess, using the rest of my vacation, slowing the breakneck speed on my NaNo piece so I can finish the draft satisfactorily, and reading. Lots of reading planned.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">And post more photos like this one because the new site is coming soon and I can’t wait to share it with you all. So how do you all de-stress?</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-20453402164126389942010-10-01T09:14:00.000-04:002010-10-01T09:14:15.645-04:00Release Day!Today is a celebration! <u><strong>Fem-Fangs (An Anthology)</strong></u> is now available for sale on <a href="http://www.pillhillpress.com/books.html">Pill Hill Press</a>'s site as well as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fem-Fangs-Vampire-Anthology-Ty-Schwamberger/dp/1617060224/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1285937553&sr=8-1">Amazon.com</a>.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEl-1V1zt876L8c3_pbn-TLAYGWfiGma3W3yKzjoiwd7JhI8j9LYVtIHNas8cPj87zQ-CwnNURiQGbIC-h4j2EmFSs_weeJxIUbOCgm5N4ZEZg8iOYtsKVFeVy8R1xz9aesFOt4NI00RKR/s1600/1632871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEl-1V1zt876L8c3_pbn-TLAYGWfiGma3W3yKzjoiwd7JhI8j9LYVtIHNas8cPj87zQ-CwnNURiQGbIC-h4j2EmFSs_weeJxIUbOCgm5N4ZEZg8iOYtsKVFeVy8R1xz9aesFOt4NI00RKR/s320/1632871.jpg" width="213" /></a>From Pill Hill's website:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><em>Though people have been exploring the legend of the vampire for hundreds of years, the female vampire has been largely overlooked...until now.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Pill Hill Press proudly presents FEM-FANGS, a collection of short stories focused on fanged girls of the night with a taste for human blood and a penchant for power, seduction and terror. </em><br />
<br />
<em>Find your favorite turtleneck and sink your teeth into this monster of a collection. You're in store for some long, dark nights filled with beautiful, hungry creatures. Don't cry when you find yourself with two perfectly round puncture wounds on your neck...because you've been warned</em>. <br />
<br />
This anthology contains my short story <u><strong>High Stakes.</strong></u> <br />
<br />
<em>Asking for help is hard enough; asking your enemy is unthinkable. But Rachel Davis sees no other way to save her sister Amanda from the fangs of Gloria Delaney, Mistress of the city. Adam Sabol is a hunter, spending his nights keeping the streets of Philadelphia clear of monsters and demons. And vampires like Rachel.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Well, not exactly like Rachel. There’s something different about her. Something that makes Adam want to believe her and help. Of course, the money she’s willing to front doesn’t hurt either. Hunting doesn’t exactly pay the bills. </em><br />
<br />
<em>Allied by a shaky trust, they plot against the untouchable Gloria, sure that one of them won’t make it through the night. If they fail, it won’t be just their lives, but those of the entire city.</em> <br />
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<br />
To celebrate, I'm doing my first give-a-way. When I get to 100 twitter followers, I will give one lucky person the choice of either <u><strong>Fem-Fangs (An Anthology)</strong></u> or <u><strong>Silver Moon, Bloody Bullets: An Anthology of Werewolf Tails</strong></u>, both from Pill Hill Press and both featuring a short story by yours truely. To win, just simply become a follower on Twitter. Re-tweeting won't help your chances, but it will help me get to 100 followers faster!<br />
<br />
Happy Friday!Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-29389676042062276912010-09-17T11:21:00.001-04:002010-09-17T12:10:26.269-04:00Cory and Mike - September 5th<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The beautiful weather of Labor Day weekend continued on Sunday, September 5th for Cory and Mike's beautiful wedding </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">at <a href="http://http//www.pheasantrunfarmbb.com/">Pheasant Run Farm Bed and Breakfast</a> . </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHRDRRaG8BnIFQ-khLGF-onuDQGIk8xxA7GxQ2wQbk1JWPTnX07Duk7bxpgKBwB4A0TCC2EDHB0v77e25p1ezHc5Dr4TlncovmAQ9OgmoSX-EWvIGuyJ1GyR171203XRPMKX7Pv-VF6mRO/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHRDRRaG8BnIFQ-khLGF-onuDQGIk8xxA7GxQ2wQbk1JWPTnX07Duk7bxpgKBwB4A0TCC2EDHB0v77e25p1ezHc5Dr4TlncovmAQ9OgmoSX-EWvIGuyJ1GyR171203XRPMKX7Pv-VF6mRO/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-75.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The old farm had this amazing charming and rustic feel to it that complimented the simple black and white color scheme. Here is a look into that beautiful day. Some portraits before the ceremony.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2EAKFAjaxFOQppaO9xVQe52AAxCHT7A9xyUM7lEAvbL9putGf44MArA6cQ-sn7i8NaoL9GaF-qq5Ggj7HQqzOy9cy0bXKO_LZYaGc0TQ24LAM1yF1fhKrjHrEFHWIhMA5MsIUxBXjKuc/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-44a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2EAKFAjaxFOQppaO9xVQe52AAxCHT7A9xyUM7lEAvbL9putGf44MArA6cQ-sn7i8NaoL9GaF-qq5Ggj7HQqzOy9cy0bXKO_LZYaGc0TQ24LAM1yF1fhKrjHrEFHWIhMA5MsIUxBXjKuc/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-44a.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRctdq1IJrSvEM3uzPPy6NrPyBKwcC_6pS6UcQQ_2FtEGmPfb_mB2yXNEnumd1GNh8lBClETgvZjtYDuCGWBAf9FwoOqXxHnCLhSmcJNEP4OsP0DT0C386NOX2cCNOTmbLg-qxwKwfyaqS/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRctdq1IJrSvEM3uzPPy6NrPyBKwcC_6pS6UcQQ_2FtEGmPfb_mB2yXNEnumd1GNh8lBClETgvZjtYDuCGWBAf9FwoOqXxHnCLhSmcJNEP4OsP0DT0C386NOX2cCNOTmbLg-qxwKwfyaqS/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-5.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzFzobmIBkuwsgyCaE1FtiIn9-fBGXxJ6N5HdO8zayuy6Pa9xwZM1k0p1dms48I57N0yTVy-KagNDH691FzEfpfssk8O8FPjZk9wMqnhAHLTY7vyureZMRlo1snxWIQWb6ju-DS6tg824/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzFzobmIBkuwsgyCaE1FtiIn9-fBGXxJ6N5HdO8zayuy6Pa9xwZM1k0p1dms48I57N0yTVy-KagNDH691FzEfpfssk8O8FPjZk9wMqnhAHLTY7vyureZMRlo1snxWIQWb6ju-DS6tg824/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-40.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvN5d_EuTiW2h8QvVwg4DBweLT39Q9hjMpAr8F8y5D9e2s1hAsVz-mzbBO0YPpcc6zARmDY93w2TRWmDCUX-a2kQPU_-Vq8DuQcj1b5XsGAKszbna6RE668dmF2XjetQxdWc-N5dLAUrcR/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-68.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvN5d_EuTiW2h8QvVwg4DBweLT39Q9hjMpAr8F8y5D9e2s1hAsVz-mzbBO0YPpcc6zARmDY93w2TRWmDCUX-a2kQPU_-Vq8DuQcj1b5XsGAKszbna6RE668dmF2XjetQxdWc-N5dLAUrcR/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-68.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq3NSItn6CAeJhyphenhyphenjPUkwHN543vmM2VO7hDeu8zAQ02ffLUa2jErYY3giSHmVsznJnxlTZDI8jqgiCiBncihsfUIeuPSQ_F6ZMOPm816sjCW9rg0V91K2WtMjO3TPNUY2ppnaGrEXa86odd/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq3NSItn6CAeJhyphenhyphenjPUkwHN543vmM2VO7hDeu8zAQ02ffLUa2jErYY3giSHmVsznJnxlTZDI8jqgiCiBncihsfUIeuPSQ_F6ZMOPm816sjCW9rg0V91K2WtMjO3TPNUY2ppnaGrEXa86odd/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-54.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdzXZvp5LKQQeZj4-3ubS7TFe3sP0RoRXQ1FbDhHPQb0a8HPfA4brMF-fvDc8BE_lv_Nld3cXjLcvosyft2v3CKx7rL7PS2FeMkJ_Ue-jJUKy8RV46MdJDmAPcMv-Hd5cvW3z6drGSxUJ/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdzXZvp5LKQQeZj4-3ubS7TFe3sP0RoRXQ1FbDhHPQb0a8HPfA4brMF-fvDc8BE_lv_Nld3cXjLcvosyft2v3CKx7rL7PS2FeMkJ_Ue-jJUKy8RV46MdJDmAPcMv-Hd5cvW3z6drGSxUJ/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-69.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Some details.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaR0nuexCntBI6M_T-WKUB4ZgmfKNeX64q5kvVjas9ByBLCyYxr59Kma4Ac0k7MYp-HJpg-f0R-rgfUZXc3Tc9bz3t71o088BgFwclVd1FeAQbskGAze1mCyf3wmp6rGNDB-2UuMra9Jpt/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-85.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaR0nuexCntBI6M_T-WKUB4ZgmfKNeX64q5kvVjas9ByBLCyYxr59Kma4Ac0k7MYp-HJpg-f0R-rgfUZXc3Tc9bz3t71o088BgFwclVd1FeAQbskGAze1mCyf3wmp6rGNDB-2UuMra9Jpt/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-85.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RqeSPVZb_1h068XA6KVygajVSKTaQ_AVyBBDUoEtOpFbHs_LvuAQFh08xLvLRA0vgDOaG_sbnmxe7TDUDeduYP2txlHDHJ2U3qQKSVNEGBvTnqNWkjCkWZjS_Sk6cMFAmJby0YQah18a/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RqeSPVZb_1h068XA6KVygajVSKTaQ_AVyBBDUoEtOpFbHs_LvuAQFh08xLvLRA0vgDOaG_sbnmxe7TDUDeduYP2txlHDHJ2U3qQKSVNEGBvTnqNWkjCkWZjS_Sk6cMFAmJby0YQah18a/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-270.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWS1CBlHn0Syc0U3amgcuvC8g1wzXm_unPdEC1vR_cSsYYXDmQMRk4olv9lko0b1t4d0lCRa3-SOGtBBMJSmVw1F23ir0o93Xc01BwbC2R61oTVQ1n-DVgS4T-YAkr0vznULWEWrgYnWY6/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWS1CBlHn0Syc0U3amgcuvC8g1wzXm_unPdEC1vR_cSsYYXDmQMRk4olv9lko0b1t4d0lCRa3-SOGtBBMJSmVw1F23ir0o93Xc01BwbC2R61oTVQ1n-DVgS4T-YAkr0vznULWEWrgYnWY6/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-20.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The ceremony.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha67N-8alf5jpSqLBFOxw_ZUx0McS9UneVbyeIbkqKvYKfyg0LTPIOooP8ttYVX4lEXqfMLNpotoAySQk1XLEdPXW9tj-PeNX9QkE18xS1g-DzyrXrL8cl3dsztGVC9HBwbyDGT9tdfOUa/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha67N-8alf5jpSqLBFOxw_ZUx0McS9UneVbyeIbkqKvYKfyg0LTPIOooP8ttYVX4lEXqfMLNpotoAySQk1XLEdPXW9tj-PeNX9QkE18xS1g-DzyrXrL8cl3dsztGVC9HBwbyDGT9tdfOUa/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-134.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EkYFqu7oFvw2qBPKM8YZ76DM4TIdPyFzInMtnk76Tc5UupvjmIk_cVn3N7MZTNEMhkMZLmpib-PHQ8bwpnUio7-GoVRT05SBDI2o-AbOWARPZJLM7rS30iXPIlnFE35ApYqDkZ0vkKkt/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EkYFqu7oFvw2qBPKM8YZ76DM4TIdPyFzInMtnk76Tc5UupvjmIk_cVn3N7MZTNEMhkMZLmpib-PHQ8bwpnUio7-GoVRT05SBDI2o-AbOWARPZJLM7rS30iXPIlnFE35ApYqDkZ0vkKkt/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-172.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIZn97b27nEDfZ6wF8GpmzryBZMCcE9drmcwnuFndyS3URN8YhbKIbF6ai8aWoSQUuUwiRTmRqTKiZs8cV6_B79QmAblioK5xFgVEvxxX-K4xNav4UJPeeUeAkLEMZ5HNlBC4zwoFCEJH/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIZn97b27nEDfZ6wF8GpmzryBZMCcE9drmcwnuFndyS3URN8YhbKIbF6ai8aWoSQUuUwiRTmRqTKiZs8cV6_B79QmAblioK5xFgVEvxxX-K4xNav4UJPeeUeAkLEMZ5HNlBC4zwoFCEJH/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-181.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The bridal party</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTEiWA3vqQmwg5_q5T57jnXOx8ooulrIWYuiDTsZwODAHC5qERQzvM-zwaYPiVdsixKDnCmK0qHrLvWUd9684rcPkk5HkM69Hn_GBpBs9cl_5Z8PHOrEFNIrg_x5EVyV1QZ23MwukOgd5/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTEiWA3vqQmwg5_q5T57jnXOx8ooulrIWYuiDTsZwODAHC5qERQzvM-zwaYPiVdsixKDnCmK0qHrLvWUd9684rcPkk5HkM69Hn_GBpBs9cl_5Z8PHOrEFNIrg_x5EVyV1QZ23MwukOgd5/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-222.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzbsoNAAyW0zBLMQnd2ODCNB_nPSBAyHUAa5DeAe2VzTFFivGlTLGn9u1tLIyq-YBQP7IlDcc1gnzJdxBYfNIhq4wa2YOCN2EGDIIPX800vhHlDrUDh15WfUx6C-7hDLOajHiLDLzD54G/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzbsoNAAyW0zBLMQnd2ODCNB_nPSBAyHUAa5DeAe2VzTFFivGlTLGn9u1tLIyq-YBQP7IlDcc1gnzJdxBYfNIhq4wa2YOCN2EGDIIPX800vhHlDrUDh15WfUx6C-7hDLOajHiLDLzD54G/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-233.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The happy couple.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtm3YsQjzPZmNiJAUhfHbJnLwio5fcux_K1jEU6gL440g5KGYI29jsbLuo9dRqIzWVxrX7IPU4aGBjty6K0_yTE6d2RMFJ2mSwIb_RqtxGS04NF9sC6neIdumXLdzXZ0CjkznvgNm0H5Y/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtm3YsQjzPZmNiJAUhfHbJnLwio5fcux_K1jEU6gL440g5KGYI29jsbLuo9dRqIzWVxrX7IPU4aGBjty6K0_yTE6d2RMFJ2mSwIb_RqtxGS04NF9sC6neIdumXLdzXZ0CjkznvgNm0H5Y/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-258.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cory and Mike, thank you for having me there on your day. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I loved meeting you and your family and I wish you all the happiness you deserve. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I'll leave you with a few photos that showed off the beautiful lighting in the grove where the ceremony took place.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPoOePaClznXn6b1JbUqY9r4R1jAMyncZLjDQE5OlDNWD66WpvqqXlUZeRUrzh6cZ1iqU9HuJSsi3L6NknJix4ewMyw1aTfrRLkgOaPWNNZ09LXIxFeaJU4SruABmnxxksnoECtQjF2k2J/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPoOePaClznXn6b1JbUqY9r4R1jAMyncZLjDQE5OlDNWD66WpvqqXlUZeRUrzh6cZ1iqU9HuJSsi3L6NknJix4ewMyw1aTfrRLkgOaPWNNZ09LXIxFeaJU4SruABmnxxksnoECtQjF2k2J/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-251.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW9SMsSIkL-0ZiaXTHUUqll8gxL23Ng5F-h2i47L7XHQaMtyp0EWvbyqgrPVcVGyX_0Zhwvy9RsuLHs9rhUUTDRea1gAxPRVKbLInhNp-u2U_A4GwdrrK9u6NsAQl_aRgn6D4NQ78T06gB/s1600/Cory_Mike_Picks-252a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW9SMsSIkL-0ZiaXTHUUqll8gxL23Ng5F-h2i47L7XHQaMtyp0EWvbyqgrPVcVGyX_0Zhwvy9RsuLHs9rhUUTDRea1gAxPRVKbLInhNp-u2U_A4GwdrrK9u6NsAQl_aRgn6D4NQ78T06gB/s320/Cory_Mike_Picks-252a.jpg" /></a></div>Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-78891428108245717742010-09-09T21:40:00.000-04:002010-09-09T21:40:53.303-04:00Chrissy and Ron - September 4th<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
Labor Day weekend couldn't have given us better weather for a wedding. Blue skies, a cool breeze and a gorgeous backyard garden provided a scenic setting for Ron and Chrissy's wedding. Two ponds with two streams gave a large playground to the kids as well as some other amphibian friends. <div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFdNLF4wjo6U7Z5MHlt_ZN9Y7fV4wRxt9brxllavKlacfwpjbUrF8HwDmJlZPyGqUORD5b2w4G41oyFDSLNZkZt-C2o7REZaT42llN2InYYRU8loqoiCqbOrGf5nx1f34xlwjJbY2Ceuo5/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFdNLF4wjo6U7Z5MHlt_ZN9Y7fV4wRxt9brxllavKlacfwpjbUrF8HwDmJlZPyGqUORD5b2w4G41oyFDSLNZkZt-C2o7REZaT42llN2InYYRU8loqoiCqbOrGf5nx1f34xlwjJbY2Ceuo5/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-1.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHandGA8OlLd8uAj_v-YmcSTTIqkZM2Y_5J1gHkFNU1txjYZ6lnwfBctdJyFKNM0HoszQlCqdfzWbH4Xpkk-MDF6CsZAbPQtFxqY4G_anP_oE3CZ0zOpm-OTIVNqyWdbGgWR5ioV2sq5l/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHandGA8OlLd8uAj_v-YmcSTTIqkZM2Y_5J1gHkFNU1txjYZ6lnwfBctdJyFKNM0HoszQlCqdfzWbH4Xpkk-MDF6CsZAbPQtFxqY4G_anP_oE3CZ0zOpm-OTIVNqyWdbGgWR5ioV2sq5l/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-8.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I know they say you have to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince. Guess this little guy's still looking for his princess. But his happily ever after will have to come later. Today was about Chrissy and Ron. Here's a little glimpse into the magic of that day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">The dress.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxPWyafrNj_nXaJIQPKakaYAAXqRcxcoPUqLwBvaZj0S87UMdqDrOm84QtAb1z_i6_h_A_y1OAb3K54JE-JWnPVf28Tavsc-K7pRh3PR3jyb4bETEY0C38QjMG4JpSY35CL4ltcwBeOC-/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxPWyafrNj_nXaJIQPKakaYAAXqRcxcoPUqLwBvaZj0S87UMdqDrOm84QtAb1z_i6_h_A_y1OAb3K54JE-JWnPVf28Tavsc-K7pRh3PR3jyb4bETEY0C38QjMG4JpSY35CL4ltcwBeOC-/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-11.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Some details.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwq5uIp6cU8HZ8DQjex2FtjJCuZNFCWC-CGlls5whIYfYtzoCUKx0ZVADX_dNafkKsGWEgRaDi9TTNZKmBdfDiwy5VcjpwKK8YFNcqPZaZKINm9ND0CW2huDHIbr2e3gs11KL13RItbJku/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwq5uIp6cU8HZ8DQjex2FtjJCuZNFCWC-CGlls5whIYfYtzoCUKx0ZVADX_dNafkKsGWEgRaDi9TTNZKmBdfDiwy5VcjpwKK8YFNcqPZaZKINm9ND0CW2huDHIbr2e3gs11KL13RItbJku/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-10.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7Y-tyDlJviSo2MijWWsGOH1FPPh0ae6YB-3y0OdrtgbxazxDt_vmutw91IGmY2koLs1bE_VGxisMLU3YEZFgJkw5IQDs7jds99JyUhhVu_Izs9xBmR1wrOogDMCvtbSvJ2xIXNsUZuZK/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7Y-tyDlJviSo2MijWWsGOH1FPPh0ae6YB-3y0OdrtgbxazxDt_vmutw91IGmY2koLs1bE_VGxisMLU3YEZFgJkw5IQDs7jds99JyUhhVu_Izs9xBmR1wrOogDMCvtbSvJ2xIXNsUZuZK/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-15.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"> The flowers.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4BeiT1V0fnha6cfwj20_fsXunogV9UUBdiKb4C1V61OuChXMu98G6JO_OFN77gTXFG1b_sPYUj26PBHyEBtYcE0fAtQD6_uEc5qO3mAtn6J1otKRBHVYVIyk17vH7zKJa6y6RybDqV1a/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4BeiT1V0fnha6cfwj20_fsXunogV9UUBdiKb4C1V61OuChXMu98G6JO_OFN77gTXFG1b_sPYUj26PBHyEBtYcE0fAtQD6_uEc5qO3mAtn6J1otKRBHVYVIyk17vH7zKJa6y6RybDqV1a/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-3.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">The rings.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22Om1NtagFon0-Yya8g8V3XRTUtTnBXCql3NZ9sanw-oyr-aaEbqLMwkLfkOYz-blBeGpErRZzCyeV5biP1HaGqjXXj6zcvC8JC7MwnmA8A2b6GTIWSFXuwkt7m3-1q7l2dnSIpy96T9k/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-62.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22Om1NtagFon0-Yya8g8V3XRTUtTnBXCql3NZ9sanw-oyr-aaEbqLMwkLfkOYz-blBeGpErRZzCyeV5biP1HaGqjXXj6zcvC8JC7MwnmA8A2b6GTIWSFXuwkt7m3-1q7l2dnSIpy96T9k/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-62.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">The bride.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaCaCUFBGUZsabsGurJEZPzEqVkKbqwJwN41WVzSs6pF4Id6Z0XYFKe-Tq-Pw20Vb-KxzF1UOnpjrxChAGwUVYtpPzOZAi-s6UOvaii2jo6LzGPTHwGd2ZR9YTQimJPqQpkE5k_jmRmWN/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaCaCUFBGUZsabsGurJEZPzEqVkKbqwJwN41WVzSs6pF4Id6Z0XYFKe-Tq-Pw20Vb-KxzF1UOnpjrxChAGwUVYtpPzOZAi-s6UOvaii2jo6LzGPTHwGd2ZR9YTQimJPqQpkE5k_jmRmWN/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-39.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOEG9AasAcezy2NZ49D7OP5yGVANcjg6gWPLtQHYSSsw6WacZ9vP2cCDj54R1g0Kic495Xx441uCjp2BfODeMtLYzcqgenHrF19Mf_4Fk4QusUtxf6k-G5BdCO2kFQ0IdGUu8DAeIm-uL/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOEG9AasAcezy2NZ49D7OP5yGVANcjg6gWPLtQHYSSsw6WacZ9vP2cCDj54R1g0Kic495Xx441uCjp2BfODeMtLYzcqgenHrF19Mf_4Fk4QusUtxf6k-G5BdCO2kFQ0IdGUu8DAeIm-uL/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-45.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">The groom.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgp6kTHOljj-T5vG_nLfk6E4Yc99Jep-YSUYCUa3nOIq_KHpGgHc3QldiiFk0UXhr0bIny-A2PmEAJHplzH6GEPNXSMhc1vT8JVErA_asPk4ABlXmoYmgZja26Xfw2HwJN292GyzAN8vE/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgp6kTHOljj-T5vG_nLfk6E4Yc99Jep-YSUYCUa3nOIq_KHpGgHc3QldiiFk0UXhr0bIny-A2PmEAJHplzH6GEPNXSMhc1vT8JVErA_asPk4ABlXmoYmgZja26Xfw2HwJN292GyzAN8vE/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-251.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Ellie, Chrissy and Ron's daughter, the flower girl.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzaGTHH4kQMSJSm4C3iivz2dq-05JYj1NFftiWluornzRcHlZqVU60xqlLqdnPUopezj5WZx_VJtQJJGeC-1LWknyemWjQcg5mQj7Q2L_lvVKIDbfOWVfNfYiXHrct8D-WvgpPjSJ5qXg/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzaGTHH4kQMSJSm4C3iivz2dq-05JYj1NFftiWluornzRcHlZqVU60xqlLqdnPUopezj5WZx_VJtQJJGeC-1LWknyemWjQcg5mQj7Q2L_lvVKIDbfOWVfNfYiXHrct8D-WvgpPjSJ5qXg/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-22.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQuJJL3JG3QwOl6rlR_UcTJrhczmRzcIyya1_RH7bq-E6F7nJgYPzd-awgBNVHQDt9xaJrs-jdF06YZ1sSu9n6lpXaz6kUwhvWCmrViKsUYrrxrImuxPlXL3-KQIk3BWDqsbf3pGhb9EYI/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-92.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQuJJL3JG3QwOl6rlR_UcTJrhczmRzcIyya1_RH7bq-E6F7nJgYPzd-awgBNVHQDt9xaJrs-jdF06YZ1sSu9n6lpXaz6kUwhvWCmrViKsUYrrxrImuxPlXL3-KQIk3BWDqsbf3pGhb9EYI/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-92.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div align="center">Brennan, Chrissy and Ron's son, the ring bearer</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeKv8HO0OdyGdRysfLetrti19WR6cWxtRFqjKkIAp98dUfho2FV2AGn96OX40SpuR7UelbLj0zhgx5yzeb0NAQrC_eo00uKPSm2HQbDAczBq-XtXdrQ5MuuV7LIbdtLZigL1v7J9b2UZJm/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-83.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeKv8HO0OdyGdRysfLetrti19WR6cWxtRFqjKkIAp98dUfho2FV2AGn96OX40SpuR7UelbLj0zhgx5yzeb0NAQrC_eo00uKPSm2HQbDAczBq-XtXdrQ5MuuV7LIbdtLZigL1v7J9b2UZJm/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-83.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The ceremony.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXS26sypawPCgkyhHlfi019XLEr0VEi_zgqlFwmxz6tHtQXpcz6KPZWVqs0dvEpk3FkZnSiTZOjMiXAscEMKA7mrrmvyJbwrW7bjNYca6EYdWp6ru0BJO1OeAnNRjRwskBhjvDeGHUyVJL/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXS26sypawPCgkyhHlfi019XLEr0VEi_zgqlFwmxz6tHtQXpcz6KPZWVqs0dvEpk3FkZnSiTZOjMiXAscEMKA7mrrmvyJbwrW7bjNYca6EYdWp6ru0BJO1OeAnNRjRwskBhjvDeGHUyVJL/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-123.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6FYBNgAWBDkBelOdPfVWFu8GpSnKzu3f-av8A8qFQr1WZVr67XKVkMaQH0wyP-gzBBJQvawm0q8XY86PAyEjbEEKx97329iYolRaOo3E1W8NDnngZeDwPLCZSYTC0NmqINDgmzdwwbYL/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6FYBNgAWBDkBelOdPfVWFu8GpSnKzu3f-av8A8qFQr1WZVr67XKVkMaQH0wyP-gzBBJQvawm0q8XY86PAyEjbEEKx97329iYolRaOo3E1W8NDnngZeDwPLCZSYTC0NmqINDgmzdwwbYL/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-138.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">They literally tied the knot in a hand fastening ceremony.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenQbwyPMZJRWF4ag5xwpRStwx9kw2Kp86inyGx-iv1SRAntAzicPZtCcN86947YooOpJ_19ihTui1TRTllZa3KU_ccH5DIA1qfUQP8QFjbhvSVGKkU1e7fUMnvwZDlT1bEDRnvoJspKMh/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-179.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenQbwyPMZJRWF4ag5xwpRStwx9kw2Kp86inyGx-iv1SRAntAzicPZtCcN86947YooOpJ_19ihTui1TRTllZa3KU_ccH5DIA1qfUQP8QFjbhvSVGKkU1e7fUMnvwZDlT1bEDRnvoJspKMh/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-179.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">First kiss as husband and wife.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI80xGi5rTU2WpvNUXsD0tdSIvqRnZUAoSSaVEkxPdeJdi1HZb1QxWkpKe9lzhjYgneGM0EeswdwzBoaAvUN3PFvLrUCgSCQ52pyOV6ZlQWrT-67hrf-wtwdAM4ryQ1YOL626u_ORds-RV/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI80xGi5rTU2WpvNUXsD0tdSIvqRnZUAoSSaVEkxPdeJdi1HZb1QxWkpKe9lzhjYgneGM0EeswdwzBoaAvUN3PFvLrUCgSCQ52pyOV6ZlQWrT-67hrf-wtwdAM4ryQ1YOL626u_ORds-RV/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-186.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Congrats and tears all around.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRy5KGtanMs95Vc4BOghuLKHXgFp1OmvoIawrnb1bddtH6jyMwPTV7W-ZJxLG584lo7D5zUtct6QDfCrux5noC0FzRuTSuEUgbZ5QH4t4T_y-uSgPBiS3Ct5XPKCuNkiCFt7BYlU6j27t6/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRy5KGtanMs95Vc4BOghuLKHXgFp1OmvoIawrnb1bddtH6jyMwPTV7W-ZJxLG584lo7D5zUtct6QDfCrux5noC0FzRuTSuEUgbZ5QH4t4T_y-uSgPBiS3Ct5XPKCuNkiCFt7BYlU6j27t6/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-207.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ellie and Paris, Ron's daughter and bridesmaid.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzP1va_-jiUFkTSDCll5FGjjQ7ZHXNN1NCAFTpeNy26RsIF_8lyN9p_eHiOMAOvvkwNnpMnXttYViYnS0wVF2B72i-AMDS0NfYFqrw9xv6rzlbff0YLSxy9kVSuK0Y3BvUxX1QcgnZFxX2/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzP1va_-jiUFkTSDCll5FGjjQ7ZHXNN1NCAFTpeNy26RsIF_8lyN9p_eHiOMAOvvkwNnpMnXttYViYnS0wVF2B72i-AMDS0NfYFqrw9xv6rzlbff0YLSxy9kVSuK0Y3BvUxX1QcgnZFxX2/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-224.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The girls.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTC5nzBtqcxzFfr3EP1R6TZB-C2MnsZaHLyWUnn8JIPLVkvKmF36HLnIf1dvDqd8V0XrAzib-mVOIrKHjFBqSQfUhHvCCgZDiUsQIxCyiswZ6pmo2zrOgdKBo_5LAjYCWzFeZQoa7ZtT4/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTC5nzBtqcxzFfr3EP1R6TZB-C2MnsZaHLyWUnn8JIPLVkvKmF36HLnIf1dvDqd8V0XrAzib-mVOIrKHjFBqSQfUhHvCCgZDiUsQIxCyiswZ6pmo2zrOgdKBo_5LAjYCWzFeZQoa7ZtT4/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-273.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">The guys.</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkvhidQeBhbIo3mypSs0E0jDLlq-mwYU_am-xTxkd9nRYdaf6FRvfW2Dl_CocekiaEbctFuToBTYxfcqphit39kTbq0TmbbTkA00t9CXSrbmel5_AgDizk8VeEUKQvPoRO_cFOg-MMoxD/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkvhidQeBhbIo3mypSs0E0jDLlq-mwYU_am-xTxkd9nRYdaf6FRvfW2Dl_CocekiaEbctFuToBTYxfcqphit39kTbq0TmbbTkA00t9CXSrbmel5_AgDizk8VeEUKQvPoRO_cFOg-MMoxD/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-270.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The bridal party.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDb-Gx63pCdlBQaLPWIFQzZk_0sW4yHLH7mQC0qAJH845DcJfpx1bvC_0QLqnpDTgylJmr0nJAuMvzPE9OQegweMBICz97-EAjAL1jXfMbkfa5UYfBRG8SqpVVugHj2Lc8ILoCSqWEreO/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDb-Gx63pCdlBQaLPWIFQzZk_0sW4yHLH7mQC0qAJH845DcJfpx1bvC_0QLqnpDTgylJmr0nJAuMvzPE9OQegweMBICz97-EAjAL1jXfMbkfa5UYfBRG8SqpVVugHj2Lc8ILoCSqWEreO/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-280.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">First Dance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeegn1ON-NDS9JxSPapl4Hk38digLBIv1TWUt2XkxK3QhNe5sxkY0Ct97cwZ7eSkkMsQe37MTXTz55l3uU1rkCRYbW0of_ru_0mKdJ25PXznwXj_PrOge_n6BDrRl_LHUM8-Fdv-1nx2Aq/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeegn1ON-NDS9JxSPapl4Hk38digLBIv1TWUt2XkxK3QhNe5sxkY0Ct97cwZ7eSkkMsQe37MTXTz55l3uU1rkCRYbW0of_ru_0mKdJ25PXznwXj_PrOge_n6BDrRl_LHUM8-Fdv-1nx2Aq/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-329.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Everyone loves a beautiful wedding cake, and this one was no exception, plus it was tiramisu!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgARV2KG7_IYMNU-72uWEkuU7tKXD5KqOECwfTKI9HiEYiKhVTGVEHSdnudLo8jRxTrB32GSqPverhU7u2zFTxZG2sl3YZ-4QMzd_QPPCv_Tvndb7PdvzXTHg1Jn3MzlpJl_-2JJOSTIhGz/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgARV2KG7_IYMNU-72uWEkuU7tKXD5KqOECwfTKI9HiEYiKhVTGVEHSdnudLo8jRxTrB32GSqPverhU7u2zFTxZG2sl3YZ-4QMzd_QPPCv_Tvndb7PdvzXTHg1Jn3MzlpJl_-2JJOSTIhGz/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-412.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Of course it is the tradition for the bride and groom to lovingly feed each other a slice from the cake as a show of love, affection and trust for each other. Or in this case...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The windup.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnB4QgEHmvdaLq194syqjyRrhzwqXSfxtWTXdxzfkz6Qj1YPws0boGhGdGJpQuMQJLbxthO9mmN94UFkpx3h93Jwjy8ev6iz9ocTmZ30cZiiwYupn6_o54oIjqBks1UWb45bOcV6Wx8Fwu/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnB4QgEHmvdaLq194syqjyRrhzwqXSfxtWTXdxzfkz6Qj1YPws0boGhGdGJpQuMQJLbxthO9mmN94UFkpx3h93Jwjy8ev6iz9ocTmZ30cZiiwYupn6_o54oIjqBks1UWb45bOcV6Wx8Fwu/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-419.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The pitch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-ZH2z-HiqDetpm2_yX4vfuM-q3yqF00msfAlhGr6eIUQdn-aaG6lHv0LtoVCKbB4GsR7Ec9hrtCnxh8YPv3DeT5iC-AptoPwdjL04Q0F39nkjpnzxt13b917sQMKxW6xO2ToZZb4vrjV/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-ZH2z-HiqDetpm2_yX4vfuM-q3yqF00msfAlhGr6eIUQdn-aaG6lHv0LtoVCKbB4GsR7Ec9hrtCnxh8YPv3DeT5iC-AptoPwdjL04Q0F39nkjpnzxt13b917sQMKxW6xO2ToZZb4vrjV/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-421.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The retailiation.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFxzG9wYFGamgYL7btncZSlOWFOy6ct0HnfSpy9fMgDuM5DwuC-HX2bgaKMnK9avZgjaMqAlypVCA53X1yZOPHcTAd3OLLJaxUOCCx3WwWGzZaOU7O_AMSa-NeJGfHAf6-clfo4ZiubeN/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFxzG9wYFGamgYL7btncZSlOWFOy6ct0HnfSpy9fMgDuM5DwuC-HX2bgaKMnK9avZgjaMqAlypVCA53X1yZOPHcTAd3OLLJaxUOCCx3WwWGzZaOU7O_AMSa-NeJGfHAf6-clfo4ZiubeN/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-425.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">He never saw it coming. =)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ron and Chrissy, thank you so much for coming into my life. I'm so glad I got to share in your amazing day. You have an amazing family, and I wish you both the best. Here are some last portraits of the bride and groom, and the love that they share with each other.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn23L_tiUXrAfe8H7gPzmH7W0QEICqz6NFuoJuuMZuVig2zMrGya1rIlbEP8gfC2AsuB6QZfBaeFDwZEKAlmCR41gt_MwCc7apmksEaDga-PXGsHKJ4EGs-58EhlRXgHd1ezlubrjEpPez/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn23L_tiUXrAfe8H7gPzmH7W0QEICqz6NFuoJuuMZuVig2zMrGya1rIlbEP8gfC2AsuB6QZfBaeFDwZEKAlmCR41gt_MwCc7apmksEaDga-PXGsHKJ4EGs-58EhlRXgHd1ezlubrjEpPez/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-253.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxdGeiNdr-Ft1fevhHXwmOY3TVHfbpFPU-j1DRJ0zelUBgvqbVvIgftk5NrCb0XlvBb4JojDOPmPN9McOG8fEBeFfr0zOsuvdJMUBkb01TyNbdr1TrX-sEywPCbgwW3q1EB_ygwbWA3pV/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxdGeiNdr-Ft1fevhHXwmOY3TVHfbpFPU-j1DRJ0zelUBgvqbVvIgftk5NrCb0XlvBb4JojDOPmPN9McOG8fEBeFfr0zOsuvdJMUBkb01TyNbdr1TrX-sEywPCbgwW3q1EB_ygwbWA3pV/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-255.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtyd-BPPiT9B3MT7UB7ccxBRL05zijWxuI8s0-cvGwu0zFFSrRhGMSvC6zh_zw2hrPU7Exv0JfUV76QBwZnZW1ztFerwAs1vz1n3qCWR_v2Z0Xzeez4oWbQvkxGUWCatUxfKbisx6BVw_f/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtyd-BPPiT9B3MT7UB7ccxBRL05zijWxuI8s0-cvGwu0zFFSrRhGMSvC6zh_zw2hrPU7Exv0JfUV76QBwZnZW1ztFerwAs1vz1n3qCWR_v2Z0Xzeez4oWbQvkxGUWCatUxfKbisx6BVw_f/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-397.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLl6gNycUWM-6dLfLvpmEPJbuchj054XwoaHLVDip3spXVqh_d-NkvN9npsxL0S8dSPVXMIT02NSM_bhTdzeXTpf7EN7wHz7BuIhMRYRXVTSO6npfgXYacQZt4d11_9BfXKz0576zqntF/s1600/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLl6gNycUWM-6dLfLvpmEPJbuchj054XwoaHLVDip3spXVqh_d-NkvN9npsxL0S8dSPVXMIT02NSM_bhTdzeXTpf7EN7wHz7BuIhMRYRXVTSO6npfgXYacQZt4d11_9BfXKz0576zqntF/s320/Ron_Chrissy_Picks-395.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-69402323017293423422010-09-02T21:08:00.000-04:002010-09-02T21:08:41.214-04:00Lessons Learned!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYPpQpBlPdVJfxdi2wykU4nY43RbFggeGUt9cRcCR2DaBNKjmbrtIjBRg45P13VpEvkX75hFqexoQcZag9Utc66-Tcjew64gedmDkEowTVnFP9DxqACrhWR_Q7PuqhPwvGBPpyf3vcJFU/s1600/Brilliant-learner-award-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYPpQpBlPdVJfxdi2wykU4nY43RbFggeGUt9cRcCR2DaBNKjmbrtIjBRg45P13VpEvkX75hFqexoQcZag9Utc66-Tcjew64gedmDkEowTVnFP9DxqACrhWR_Q7PuqhPwvGBPpyf3vcJFU/s320/Brilliant-learner-award-small.jpg" /></a></div>In perpetuating the learning cycle of life, <a href="http://daniellelapaglia.wordpress.com/">Danielle La Paglia</a>, flash fiction extraordinaire after my own heart, tying photos to stories, tagged me to share five things that I’ve learned this year as a writer. <br />
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<strong>1. Writers Groups</strong><br />
Along the lines of it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a group to raise a writer. Being part of a writing group is probably the single most important and scariest thing I’ve done this year. It’s one thing to jot a few words down on paper (or rather, type them out in your favorite word processing program), but it’s another thing to present your creation to peers whose job is to look for what’s wrong with it. If you want someone to pat you on the back and tell you “I liked it,” crit groups are not for you. If you want to improve, join one, whether online or in person. There’s no way to sum up everything I’ve learned from my wonderful partners-in-crime at the OWG hosted on the talented <a href="http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/">Kelley Armstrong's</a> website. I’ve also recently began participating in a face-to-face group known as the <a href="http://www.pennwriters.org/prod/">Pennwriters</a>.<br />
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<strong>2. Trust Your Crit Partners</strong><br />
Your crit partners are there to pull the wool from your eyes, question character motivation, point out your lack of grammatical and punctuation skills, ask why your MC’s hair color has changed four times, critique pace and plot and do everything short of run your words through a shredder (well, some do that too). However, they are not there to crush, but to challenge. It takes guts to put your writing out there, and it takes even more to learn from it. Scream, cry, pout, complain, do whatever you need to do to get over that initial sting of a bad critique…and then go back and read their comments with an impartial mindset and thicker skin. Chances are, they’re right.<br />
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<strong>3. Back Up Your Work</strong><br />
Everyone says to do it. Many don’t. There are three computers in our house—my desktop for my photography, my laptop for writing anywhere but at my desk, and my husband’s laptop so he doesn’t mess mine up. In one day, we lost the hard drives on both my desktop and my husband’s laptop. Everything gone—photos, music. Gone. Fortunately, I had taken to saving my writing on a flash drive to jump from computer to computer, so my writing survived. And much heartbreak and expensive data recovery later, I was able to retrieve all my photos from my photography clients. But I learned the hard way. I now back up regularly to an external hard drive. Doesn’t mean that won’t fail, but I have duplicates of everything. And of course my writing is still on my jump drive, but that’s backed up now too. Lesson learned the hard way.<br />
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<strong>4. Carry a Notebook</strong><br />
Like the Discover Card, don’t leave home without it. Inspiration can and will strike at any moment, and usually the most inopportune ones. I keep a spiral bound notebook in my shoulder bag all the time. Most of the time, I carry my netbook with me, because you never know when you can get the opportunity to write (and when you live surrounded by cornfields, driving home to get your cpu to meet a friend at the bookstore is an hour long delay. No thank you). And my phone never leaves me—the old phone had Word on it. The new iPhone has a few different apps for brainstorming and note-taking. I’m covered for when I need to jot down the solution to a plot hole that’s been bugging me. Don’t be caught with your pants down when the idea for the next best seller hits you out of the blue.<br />
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<strong>5. Write with Passion</strong><br />
It doesn’t matter what’s hot, what’s trending, who sold what, what won’t sell. Write for you and write the story you want to write. Make it your own, make it the best you can, write what you love, write with passion and the journey will be worth it. Go write, the rest is just details.<br />
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In keeping with the tag chain of learning, I’m throwing the gauntlet down at <a href="http://susankmann.blogspot.com/">Susan K. Mann</a>, and <a href="http://patriciahollett.wordpress.com/">Patricia Hollett</a>, fellow OWGers.<br />
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Tag. You’re it.Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-34330659804639917202010-08-27T19:27:00.000-04:002010-08-27T19:27:56.081-04:00Anticipation!As Summer begins to wind down, I look forward to a few things. The cool crisp air of Fall in the Northeast. The changing colors of the leaves. The kids back in school. <br />
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Fall releases for my favorite authors. <br />
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Of those that are schedule for the rest of the year, there are few I've look forward to with the excitement I've had for <a href="http://www.cassandraclare.com/">Cassandra Clare's</a> <em>The Clockwork Angel</em>. The story, the first in The Infernal Devices triology, is a prequel to her Mortal Instruements series. Shadowhunters and steampunk...what an exciting combination.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNqQZivoHn3sgttYm3v6Vo2PXDwHvoVcWZNbiOielTZWu6-40n3vVG0uDCXvSt_4ZaWNibwPFfQ6wJskUMa6-8Vy3Uuysj5dlALmTaJ-9ElCFpKBy4y5xyB6x3kiFs71fuDExJS7vkodH/s1600/clockwork-angel1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNqQZivoHn3sgttYm3v6Vo2PXDwHvoVcWZNbiOielTZWu6-40n3vVG0uDCXvSt_4ZaWNibwPFfQ6wJskUMa6-8Vy3Uuysj5dlALmTaJ-9ElCFpKBy4y5xyB6x3kiFs71fuDExJS7vkodH/s400/clockwork-angel1.jpg" width="265" /></a>From Amazon: </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em>Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.</em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em>When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to ind her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatral folk stalk gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.</em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><em>Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.</em><br />
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<em>Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.</em><br />
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The book releases this Tuesday. On Wednesday, I will be attending Cassie's signing in Exton, PA to purchase my book and meet the author for a second time. I cannot wait to read this book. I love her Mortal Instrument series, and since we have to wait until the Spring for book four of the Mortal Instruments, City of Fallen Angels, I might have to stretch out reading this book so I can get my fill of Shadowhunters. So it might take me two days as opposed to the usual one! *grins*<br />
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So what book are you most looking forward to being released?Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-32564994724504778462010-08-20T12:22:00.000-04:002010-08-20T12:22:42.901-04:00The Buck Stops Here!I like catch phrases, slogans, sayings...maybe it’s because I spend most of my days working in advertising and it’s all I hear. And they’re fun to insert into conversations and sometimes I like to do so at inopportune moments just for reaction. (Bam!) But this week, this particular idiom came to mind. <br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_passing">Quick history lesson…</a><br />
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“The buck stops here” was made popular by President Truman who kept this phrase displayed on his desk in the Oval office. President Truman received a sign as a gift from a poker playing prison warden (say that three times fast!), an allusion to the phrase “passing the buck” which refers to a marker that was used to indicate the dealer. In poker, if said individual did not wish to deal, he could decline the responsibility and pass the “buck” to the next player. And so “passing the buck” became synonymous with placing responsibility for one’s own actions on someone else. President Truman displayed the phrase “the buck stops here” as a reminder that, as President, he had to make decisions and take responsibility for those decisions. <br />
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In other words, every decision you make has a consequence. <br />
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I’m a big fan of that philosophy, and I hold true to that even when the outcome of those decisions are less than favorable. My step-son learned that the hard way this summer and will be facing his consequences for not taking freshman year seriously. I hold myself even tighter to that philosophy. Maybe it’s my inner nerd still going strong from high school, but if I’m going to do something, I do it. I don’t half attempt it, nor do I pass along the problems I don’t want to deal with or the work I don’t feel like doing properly. Half the time, it’s my job to tidy up the information that passes through me anyways. I fix problems before they happen. The buck stops with me.<br />
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Awkward transition coming. Wait for it…<br />
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So how does this relate to writing? <br />
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Well, that’s easy. Plot is the consequences of the decisions made by characters, driven by their motivations. (See how that comes full circle?) My WIP has been on hold for over a month because one of my characters had a secret she refused to share with me. She’s a minor character, so she didn’t get a lot of my attention, something she didn’t seem to mind the past year I’ve been working on this story. After a few beta readers ripped apart WIP 2.0 (1.0 didn’t see the light of day), I launched the development of WIP 3.0, the Revenge. Same skeleton, different motivations, new ending. Excited for the new angle on the story, I hit the keyboard and charged ahead into the fray. Until that minor character had a discussion with my MC that sent me to a screeching halt with only one thought in my head. <em>Why would she do THAT?</em><br />
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Certain characters scream at me, bare all and tell me everything that’s going on in the mind. Others playfully poke at me, make jokes and try to make things difficult for me. This character sat quietly in the background, not talking to me. In the shadow of my other more vocal personalities, she said her piece to the MC and then walked off screen, disappearing out of my head. Only then did I realize that I didn’t know jack about her and she wouldn’t tell. I tried to push forward through the story, but found I couldn’t. I needed to know why she did what she did to the MC. I ended up walking away from my exciting rewrite frustrated.<br />
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Time apart does wonders.<br />
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Thirty-some days later, out of the blue, the character in question whispers her secret to me. At work, I scrambled to jot it all down. Suddenly, everything makes sense, and why she didn’t want to share it. Now, not only do I have my answer, but I also have this neat little subplot. <br />
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Her actions are still shady and questionable, but they make sense now. The motivation is there. She’s just going to pay dearly in term of consequences for that decision she made. She tried to pass the buck, but fate wouldn't let her.<br />
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Ever have one character derail your entire process like that? Ever have the answer smack you in the head when you least expect it? Does the buck stop with you?Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-57612233744390038342010-08-13T13:07:00.000-04:002010-08-13T13:07:41.980-04:00Rejected!As a follow-up to last week’s scintillating, albeit tantalizing, expose on change, my mind is now focused on the result of that shot at the stars…rejection.<br />
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<br />
I’m relatively new to the world of writing. Well, maybe I should say the “business” of writing, because I’ve written most of my life, with the exception of a large gap during college where creative writing was replaced with the regurgitative stylings of academic writing. Totally different mindset that took me years to recover from, and only managed to do so when I gave myself over to another love that I had abandoned during my collegiate years: reading. But anyways, I digress…<br />
<br />
Writing as I do now, participating in an online writing group courtesy of <a href="http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/">Kelley Armstrong</a> called the OWG, and more recently, a face-to-face writers group locally, it’s taught me the necessity of thick skin. You have to be able to not only take the criticism that your fellow group members throw at you, but you have to take the rejections from publishers and agents. You have to expect it, and be able to take it gracefully and use it as a learning block to improve for next time.<br />
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Same thing applies to _____(fill in the blank). <br />
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Any time you present yourself, separate from the crowd, you are opening yourself up to criticism and rejection. I spent the last two weeks interviewing for a position in my company that I was really excited for. I didn’t get it. From what I understand, the powers-that-be wanted to use this opportunity to change a little of the job function. I understand that, completely agree with it. It also meant that I was not the most qualified candidate for the position. Disappointed? Yeah, but that’s okay. I dealt with it the same way I deal with rejection elsewhere—I went to the bookstore, bought a large caffe mocha and wrote.<br />
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While sitting in the coffee shop with my friends, I opened my email and saw a response from a publisher on a submission I had sent earlier in the week. I completely expected another rejection because I had committed a faux pas and exceeded the word limit on their submission guideline. I opened the email anyway, because what better place to deal with another rejection than where I’d go anyway? To my surprise, the email read “Congrats, we want the story.”<br />
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From this I learned two things:<br />
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(1) Some rules are made to be broken.<br />
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(2) When God closes a door, he opens a window.<br />
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I jumped through the window.<br />
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That makes two short story sales in less than six months. Considering I just started writing seriously last summer, I’m pretty thrilled with that. Maybe it’s my sign to focus more on my writing. Maybe the world was compensating me for my disappointment over the job.<br />
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Or maybe I just stumbled through that open window and haven’t hit the ground yet.<br />
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Either way, rejection happens. Go grab a caffe mocha, learn to deal with it and learn from it. <br />
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How do you deal with rejection?Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-7568820066584113902010-08-06T09:56:00.000-04:002010-08-06T09:56:58.693-04:00ChangesThe only constant is change – Heraclitus, 500BC<br />
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I’m a big fan of the status quo. An if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it kind of gal. It’s just me. Who I am. I like dependability, reliability. I like knowing what’s going to happen. I don’t like surprises.<br />
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But I’m not an idiot. Change happens. And while I may not like it at the time, it usually is for the better. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but if it is broken, then why are we staring at it like a three-headed cow doing the chicken dance? Fix it.<br />
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But how do you know when something’s broken? <br />
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Sometimes you just don’t.<br />
<br />
I’m interviewing for a new position in my company. The interviews are complete (I think), and now it’s just the waiting. One of the questions asked of me in one of those interviews really got me thinking—if I love what I do now, why change?<br />
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Indeed. Why change?<br />
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I do love my job. Those that do my job and read this may be shaking their head at me and calling for the padded room; but it’s true. I wouldn’t have stayed in this position as long as I have if I didn’t enjoy it. It’s stressful; we’re always under deadline; you’ve got one person telling you that you ain’t worth a dime and the next person singing your praises from the highest mountain. It’s a position of highs and lows where you need to be a marketing expert, a graphic designer, a customer service agent, a teacher, a psychologist, a problem solver, a negotiator and sometimes a hostage taker. (I personally love the last item, but that’s just me.) <br />
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I could keep doing this job for years and still love it and still do it well. I am not broken, but sometimes an opportunity comes up that you just have to take a shot at—so I took aim. Hit or miss? I’m happy for either.<br />
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I’m not looking for change, but sometimes change finds you. <br />
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As Robert C. Gallagher said: Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine. <br />
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How do you feel about change?Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-83020711128566861192010-08-01T12:31:00.001-04:002010-08-01T17:09:46.262-04:00Ron & Tanya Tie the Knot!<div style="text-align: center;">Ron and Tanya were married on July 17th at Bridge Acres Stable, a beautiful horse farm in Lancaster County.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Erin and Kelly from <a href="http://www.kandephotography.com/">Kande Photography</a> asked me to help them be in more than one place at the same time. While I was only there for a short time, I could see the love and excitment in Ron and Tanya. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">For more pictures from this amazing day, please check out the blog post for <a href="http://kandephotography.blogspot.com/2010/07/ron-tanya-just-married.html">Ron and Tanya</a> on Kande's site. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The beautiful bride, Tanya</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbePYwqoErMD0edfOt_T1w_K7xCVPk8eo2GkL9lTnC9glEwNdzWYOabJV9Fm5vsF0CobBO_f47p1ipTuPFx4ZKZkWHmz7p1Uqg2TRWWdmfeVaPaKAsn-pNeS_D5U8xdzotkl6cGdSkCnex/s1600/Tonya+%26+Ron004+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbePYwqoErMD0edfOt_T1w_K7xCVPk8eo2GkL9lTnC9glEwNdzWYOabJV9Fm5vsF0CobBO_f47p1ipTuPFx4ZKZkWHmz7p1Uqg2TRWWdmfeVaPaKAsn-pNeS_D5U8xdzotkl6cGdSkCnex/s320/Tonya+%26+Ron004+.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The proud groom, Ron</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Rx_vOgRVLx0xN0wZknfeRy1yU-ubFAfkSxotuVxXM-s_I8eqgVvOrMWcvZQNEbHU04Pr1VoMJiVA8BJpGP9HXC2iC1FIygOOj7tQvay16NqYkl_a46KS7WM2OUMZKTjEKbxaBnIFntqh/s1600/Tonya+%26+Ron013+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Rx_vOgRVLx0xN0wZknfeRy1yU-ubFAfkSxotuVxXM-s_I8eqgVvOrMWcvZQNEbHU04Pr1VoMJiVA8BJpGP9HXC2iC1FIygOOj7tQvay16NqYkl_a46KS7WM2OUMZKTjEKbxaBnIFntqh/s320/Tonya+%26+Ron013+copy.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The guys</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFRY-Nyz2HZksFA5wP0XkX8BzJFmsT92-FQpnuDRcyEkwpriRD_GhIQ9lp1B_vDP8waghcLNUEH1exo1MovTdOl4mX_uecOA45FeSClufVIo75E0-upIXUpt4GSYgB8GshrLomzD19XCe3/s1600/Tonya+%26+Ron026+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFRY-Nyz2HZksFA5wP0XkX8BzJFmsT92-FQpnuDRcyEkwpriRD_GhIQ9lp1B_vDP8waghcLNUEH1exo1MovTdOl4mX_uecOA45FeSClufVIo75E0-upIXUpt4GSYgB8GshrLomzD19XCe3/s320/Tonya+%26+Ron026+copy.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJRpzb_vd2eQml-MKAveIcsRfuG7frVeLURTntaWlS1MxWyyZyLK4B3hWdzsag8pWTc294BdVyI7SHSK5u5EKxorhj7XrS1vTFTPjqul9bRsgs4QJ5NdHmtlh8VVkLMSYUwt9x-gsPYaT/s1600/Tonya+%26+Ron038+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJRpzb_vd2eQml-MKAveIcsRfuG7frVeLURTntaWlS1MxWyyZyLK4B3hWdzsag8pWTc294BdVyI7SHSK5u5EKxorhj7XrS1vTFTPjqul9bRsgs4QJ5NdHmtlh8VVkLMSYUwt9x-gsPYaT/s320/Tonya+%26+Ron038+copy.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The rings</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBD8d7YSckv31UQn3hYKSg-UyM42wQXrxRyURerFtmtL2AlN5MfzPy7_Q_TnB8uIVMeu2yTZb2wuZBgRRozBsCCPP63YaDehOuu8RXOZAXeY18oRzBaK4ZcqdimKp5WP7BbaT0PEJTxYP1/s1600/rings_sneak_peak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBD8d7YSckv31UQn3hYKSg-UyM42wQXrxRyURerFtmtL2AlN5MfzPy7_Q_TnB8uIVMeu2yTZb2wuZBgRRozBsCCPP63YaDehOuu8RXOZAXeY18oRzBaK4ZcqdimKp5WP7BbaT0PEJTxYP1/s320/rings_sneak_peak.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The garden </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6pn80dh7tHYCIzykZB-9bzVKUHaFcK_KvtIaTLPV0KcBFAV59wBbPkXdWiSGKFD23EMcAaAdPIsELoqghM1MP_zLq1KsIgzX9oyaYdWAHEal1P2zSEN-SkZ9xfjG-u8miXhWgGIZYdGEk/s1600/Tonya+%26+Ron130+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6pn80dh7tHYCIzykZB-9bzVKUHaFcK_KvtIaTLPV0KcBFAV59wBbPkXdWiSGKFD23EMcAaAdPIsELoqghM1MP_zLq1KsIgzX9oyaYdWAHEal1P2zSEN-SkZ9xfjG-u8miXhWgGIZYdGEk/s320/Tonya+%26+Ron130+copy.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The first kiss</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLaVgL67v2_55qCaGb0YuTFc4jLeZEny4d3bHNSIckkdUxvIs4uIuBytz9qc1UVJM7aIyiaIQkQ1L2vFnIfUVgNXkuRJYS-xbBTZZ3U764Dxk0b8EEbE1AKVQjEHGn5-0eyOnd5hbcJyt/s1600/Tonya+%26+Ron220+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLaVgL67v2_55qCaGb0YuTFc4jLeZEny4d3bHNSIckkdUxvIs4uIuBytz9qc1UVJM7aIyiaIQkQ1L2vFnIfUVgNXkuRJYS-xbBTZZ3U764Dxk0b8EEbE1AKVQjEHGn5-0eyOnd5hbcJyt/s320/Tonya+%26+Ron220+copy.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The cake</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtohs-0MkV3CvrIqwmfJjc2rSmaZbOEb6ONChzbV6B_wWDSmcBhyGjO6pT7G42UE9oVdyltLK-QDsT74KJ3sS0ySlC8DzuQdlT5ALefuN2ToTmYbKV3aC03B37H1EHezqBSEL9p-ic6_Ss/s1600/Tonya+%26+Ron256+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtohs-0MkV3CvrIqwmfJjc2rSmaZbOEb6ONChzbV6B_wWDSmcBhyGjO6pT7G42UE9oVdyltLK-QDsT74KJ3sS0ySlC8DzuQdlT5ALefuN2ToTmYbKV3aC03B37H1EHezqBSEL9p-ic6_Ss/s320/Tonya+%26+Ron256+copy.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTU_MwIi-Jt4FHdau-EsU7uFyJMcVtZ8H33vjF3w8xyQUhILePL98HGgTjyC2GnfNUUoQAYmMv5UITJnYL0kLesu8Kq3oKImT4ncKVhQMnXU2V4OhSu3qz56t294QVlOZFRTgHZCZKxcEg/s1600/Tonya+%26+Ron277+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTU_MwIi-Jt4FHdau-EsU7uFyJMcVtZ8H33vjF3w8xyQUhILePL98HGgTjyC2GnfNUUoQAYmMv5UITJnYL0kLesu8Kq3oKImT4ncKVhQMnXU2V4OhSu3qz56t294QVlOZFRTgHZCZKxcEg/s320/Tonya+%26+Ron277+copy.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Thank you to Erin and Kelly for letting me help, and a huge congrats and wishes for a long happy marriage to Ron and Tanya!</div>Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-42127844170317526792010-07-09T21:41:00.002-04:002010-07-09T22:13:00.559-04:00A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words and a Vacation with Worth the Wait<div style="text-align: center;">This week's post is brought to you </div><div style="text-align: center;">by the letters V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N and the numbers 2-0-1-0. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Every year, we get to spend a week at the beach, and usually crash my brother and wreck havoc on my BFF Toni in New Jersey. Them and the beach are the things I miss most about not living there (I most definately do NOT miss the bennys).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">One thing most bennys do when they go to Toms River, is visit Seaside...especially now since the inseption of that wonderful show on MTV Jersey Whores...I mean...Jersey Shore. My bad. :-)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Since I don't get to visit the shore very often, I dragged Toni and group to said boardwalk and lugged my camera with us. I got some pretty cool shots, like this one. It's a handheld 10 second night shot of Funtown Pier.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGRktS8hsykO9pX3tCfHY_5F-nd_CNlARs_lfCOHBCNhw9raNqslw3aVyLC5A5g8n6C-UmoMuAQq8kJSLMcNbfVhJPj4hoibOy7aQW0KI2IFV7Eft6STpRCV-YViIPAYVeA887w01rerS5/s1600/Vaca22.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGRktS8hsykO9pX3tCfHY_5F-nd_CNlARs_lfCOHBCNhw9raNqslw3aVyLC5A5g8n6C-UmoMuAQq8kJSLMcNbfVhJPj4hoibOy7aQW0KI2IFV7Eft6STpRCV-YViIPAYVeA887w01rerS5/s320/Vaca22.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">The boardwalk is home to two awesome carousels, one on either pier. You can't go to the boardwalk and not ride the carousel. This particular one on Funtown Pier just turned 100 years old.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJ5tfHBtg7LPmTDPUHbR6LB_C01VGwwFbeP4SFIVoPOIF4-bM8rNINB0znZpGrAxd3OXCWbvWBrAlDYE553WsUDQYDqOZMxumF7ggEZkm_up8rr-7q_VQEAAXBP8AHu6Wjam6lAQ5svPO/s1600/Vaca07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJ5tfHBtg7LPmTDPUHbR6LB_C01VGwwFbeP4SFIVoPOIF4-bM8rNINB0znZpGrAxd3OXCWbvWBrAlDYE553WsUDQYDqOZMxumF7ggEZkm_up8rr-7q_VQEAAXBP8AHu6Wjam6lAQ5svPO/s320/Vaca07.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Everyone got to ride a pony except the idiot with the camera (me). I rode the carousel while taking photos. Everyone wanted a pony that went up and down; no one wanted the outside stationary horses, so I thought I wouldn't get the shot I wanted until I spotted this little girl. I have no idea who she is, but the image is exactly what I wanted to capture. There's just something magical about carousels.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_xrp2NjupyLSdDrprAKRnYfPqtTCehdMlZvdfgrw8k_OMY7dXCjl5IWmf9Dh1yBVlhCEHXS7jgw7luEptRpsksifDJLf0r_tjfvjMKj97-wqCOptyepv_xNbgqoDUqwdHYKstpXtlhwq/s1600/Vaca06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_xrp2NjupyLSdDrprAKRnYfPqtTCehdMlZvdfgrw8k_OMY7dXCjl5IWmf9Dh1yBVlhCEHXS7jgw7luEptRpsksifDJLf0r_tjfvjMKj97-wqCOptyepv_xNbgqoDUqwdHYKstpXtlhwq/s320/Vaca06.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">And of course, we had to ride the rides. And I couldn't not take photos. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">This is one of my favorites.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLm_sTo6QayQPtLiuf-vBWBHRLJJwztp8Nsed9YDI_LdmBC-NDxAoeA76uO16v_vQKJHcOhONRUOxcQit60CCdado2pb2BGho5LMhyMn1bx-HuFyILFAQ1QC8i1AX-JSTNEOyM9vxbIk6o/s1600/Vaca12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLm_sTo6QayQPtLiuf-vBWBHRLJJwztp8Nsed9YDI_LdmBC-NDxAoeA76uO16v_vQKJHcOhONRUOxcQit60CCdado2pb2BGho5LMhyMn1bx-HuFyILFAQ1QC8i1AX-JSTNEOyM9vxbIk6o/s320/Vaca12.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's the group of monsters after they rode the swings.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQu1YlOXdd1XYvwz_K4eD-sQem_hVobIQU98fAKGZaIZFdlQzeIDuLBIR4S-PyOfm1iQCj1E-M99F2roYk34YYPIkSz-jD3Ce8EL2P2cRLzVYdT0WTvPS6ueCgPZDlXaTHmC6M_CW2-HyM/s1600/Vaca17.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQu1YlOXdd1XYvwz_K4eD-sQem_hVobIQU98fAKGZaIZFdlQzeIDuLBIR4S-PyOfm1iQCj1E-M99F2roYk34YYPIkSz-jD3Ce8EL2P2cRLzVYdT0WTvPS6ueCgPZDlXaTHmC6M_CW2-HyM/s320/Vaca17.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">My brother has the most beautiful children. Jeff, its a good thing your wife is beautiful. Here are some pics of my neice and nephew. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Yes, Reann. These are on the disk.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbPc8Vgq8WES1U7NL__9A_aJeUro6-on-xX2Z97O4zLMfT0rnipVK5P2etmOaTSX8W6YfYSU2gFGJf4zbjkC9rXyGrfSlfn7nc13rRbGe6AXMRc_etrtemrM4T_GtVxicGAnWmEXxeuTO/s1600/Vaca29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbPc8Vgq8WES1U7NL__9A_aJeUro6-on-xX2Z97O4zLMfT0rnipVK5P2etmOaTSX8W6YfYSU2gFGJf4zbjkC9rXyGrfSlfn7nc13rRbGe6AXMRc_etrtemrM4T_GtVxicGAnWmEXxeuTO/s320/Vaca29.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9t9DMMsMs-pkKXjg_7nGQWzXX_h1dzzyvty2SP02aem8PWw82YAGjOEon6Y4QUYTlMFCAEl36jVRHirEOzmftN9YHxuo9KnbznxbvAhI7-fPr6PB2x9lOpKoOaJ3J4f9nlZcCbDQAZJA/s1600/Vaca33.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9t9DMMsMs-pkKXjg_7nGQWzXX_h1dzzyvty2SP02aem8PWw82YAGjOEon6Y4QUYTlMFCAEl36jVRHirEOzmftN9YHxuo9KnbznxbvAhI7-fPr6PB2x9lOpKoOaJ3J4f9nlZcCbDQAZJA/s320/Vaca33.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyyVj4PO-uN1Lc5htgCx_l8t_r9HSknSf2ju0wu9tRiGRAQ1sTQr6jsGe0xUKFiu6d7abBoDDZXhi-NN101FeKMVRbQ_rzIHtAgPatyLmA2lHFik0wlGKmbNiwVg1FKkOPm2WmaWMQiEl/s1600/Vaca42.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyyVj4PO-uN1Lc5htgCx_l8t_r9HSknSf2ju0wu9tRiGRAQ1sTQr6jsGe0xUKFiu6d7abBoDDZXhi-NN101FeKMVRbQ_rzIHtAgPatyLmA2lHFik0wlGKmbNiwVg1FKkOPm2WmaWMQiEl/s320/Vaca42.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5i2mDtddU36UYABHvEtTkebdSsWucHVwx2rNM7T5HJok8OHijEldwljUm4JykFlEYvIw8brXVKsEYP4-c1xSP8jG2uvoAg6KUQy5RWIIbkiOVYNpzWCCghEYpjw75b20gY7F4OcQsTr26/s1600/Vaca48.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5i2mDtddU36UYABHvEtTkebdSsWucHVwx2rNM7T5HJok8OHijEldwljUm4JykFlEYvIw8brXVKsEYP4-c1xSP8jG2uvoAg6KUQy5RWIIbkiOVYNpzWCCghEYpjw75b20gY7F4OcQsTr26/s320/Vaca48.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_LobI5tyu1QdDOnXIQX9hyphenhyphencoSwl_9JkmWDcEoBfM2K3OQG9VHRE2eEQU3Rr680ZBCpegrItMbNkC3gIQOpXqIBatHEB0qaaIA0N3fdTfklDvudESCp8aa3YGfp-zZbkubcfF3iDt9n1Z/s1600/Vaca49.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_LobI5tyu1QdDOnXIQX9hyphenhyphencoSwl_9JkmWDcEoBfM2K3OQG9VHRE2eEQU3Rr680ZBCpegrItMbNkC3gIQOpXqIBatHEB0qaaIA0N3fdTfklDvudESCp8aa3YGfp-zZbkubcfF3iDt9n1Z/s320/Vaca49.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">And here is Nicholas, having a blast swimming in his pool. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">He's just the cutest.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuSdCuRgjBN8wkc0OOemUw0XDY1ZnbrN1W9cHBYVHmOx42xc7R8WHIqTmPefPU6VBXiqwds9EVonQZt1CzWVlBHsHbKLYHup1KFXJHj7e1nzmxLgaeuJIXAXNOnG5v5v9VYqfnXlrqxmH/s1600/Vaca56.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuSdCuRgjBN8wkc0OOemUw0XDY1ZnbrN1W9cHBYVHmOx42xc7R8WHIqTmPefPU6VBXiqwds9EVonQZt1CzWVlBHsHbKLYHup1KFXJHj7e1nzmxLgaeuJIXAXNOnG5v5v9VYqfnXlrqxmH/s320/Vaca56.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">And no post is complete without the requist funny face pictures. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"> I swear you guys do this on purpose to me.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2gbdM5WfEUKroEuh1EcFXGcK-p9BrbapdvB7uYmcjK0SuWeBY1I6z9ed1RpYj2wyEdNbfZV1cT05lrYlzHAcx9fJgTgAiJqqnn6kAsbb9bO7j7lH-UgyS-HhY5rVJN9RbBp0q9-OknqK/s1600/Vaca03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2gbdM5WfEUKroEuh1EcFXGcK-p9BrbapdvB7uYmcjK0SuWeBY1I6z9ed1RpYj2wyEdNbfZV1cT05lrYlzHAcx9fJgTgAiJqqnn6kAsbb9bO7j7lH-UgyS-HhY5rVJN9RbBp0q9-OknqK/s320/Vaca03.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsi7seP2gTduDSMtV6MaYsO0RSJPYHRAakHxmYhp54pQwBX6DilYeOijMxFMOpz1Bi6_izLmkJkkRwxyP6D_-87-RmG68h1tkBhWOb_FEAaMFPaZ4osGGNOC3z3ZyJHHMsY1no2vnyR8Y/s1600/Vaca19.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsi7seP2gTduDSMtV6MaYsO0RSJPYHRAakHxmYhp54pQwBX6DilYeOijMxFMOpz1Bi6_izLmkJkkRwxyP6D_-87-RmG68h1tkBhWOb_FEAaMFPaZ4osGGNOC3z3ZyJHHMsY1no2vnyR8Y/s320/Vaca19.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4n9KPU8mKsSpUJ5I51AbGiwfW5a7t6oXUkmV_A-d4_kjxD9HbKJAo45ShX9z0i-Q52vqR0KgS4EwwmPOMbQRfdMS1x0AtCJpGmRHpUwbQXaEXoPOJvNaNEBkQ6ut5feDaIgYMT0shkEBG/s1600/Vaca20.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4n9KPU8mKsSpUJ5I51AbGiwfW5a7t6oXUkmV_A-d4_kjxD9HbKJAo45ShX9z0i-Q52vqR0KgS4EwwmPOMbQRfdMS1x0AtCJpGmRHpUwbQXaEXoPOJvNaNEBkQ6ut5feDaIgYMT0shkEBG/s320/Vaca20.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Last but not least, a belated Happy 4th of July. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Cue the fireworks please.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx0mTz8IVnug6Q3MJPh60zJTZYtSb39db27syAHMxYE62mpeNhYT3_4Euu2glXEQ45-HndYk3IVtJ_rMu2JV5AXXl0PAy6XiAqb8GxWC6ub4jrGgtt5VvYjPMsz28gyOLJVGBgKbf5QQM-/s1600/IMG_4008_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx0mTz8IVnug6Q3MJPh60zJTZYtSb39db27syAHMxYE62mpeNhYT3_4Euu2glXEQ45-HndYk3IVtJ_rMu2JV5AXXl0PAy6XiAqb8GxWC6ub4jrGgtt5VvYjPMsz28gyOLJVGBgKbf5QQM-/s320/IMG_4008_web.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidI-oi6vGCNn9onQYxs2qRB6bY2uI-0t4Y65nDWTaoz7MzMw6AweCk_oejf-CURm6HJm8htViIzMaLcXbd04dUClemojG1me5vsqO_qnfQnjQC9iCn6OrpGAx8vvo7RuxW9Xks5hWi8YuF/s1600/IMG_3984_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidI-oi6vGCNn9onQYxs2qRB6bY2uI-0t4Y65nDWTaoz7MzMw6AweCk_oejf-CURm6HJm8htViIzMaLcXbd04dUClemojG1me5vsqO_qnfQnjQC9iCn6OrpGAx8vvo7RuxW9Xks5hWi8YuF/s320/IMG_3984_web.jpg" /></a></div>Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-60932622296016905052010-07-02T11:27:00.000-04:002010-07-02T11:27:29.078-04:00Silver Moon, Bloody Bullets is Here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqeBnGMvnk7YZSoGCOm1GzFFe_iAcE2JjENZx4e-JnXkbAXYEwlpJxvy2DmFwg82St0RI3PGcGmiE-2Zs6MrOwC02DJ4sVDTqQO16BQxTD7p21yuC2urOgx08CO7mxNfGPdvS33g481qjA/s1600/silver+moon+bloody+bullets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqeBnGMvnk7YZSoGCOm1GzFFe_iAcE2JjENZx4e-JnXkbAXYEwlpJxvy2DmFwg82St0RI3PGcGmiE-2Zs6MrOwC02DJ4sVDTqQO16BQxTD7p21yuC2urOgx08CO7mxNfGPdvS33g481qjA/s320/silver+moon+bloody+bullets.jpg" /></a></div>After much aniticipation, it has arrived in the mail.<br />
<br />
And I'm not home to hold it. Being on vacation, I can only look at the pretty picture. But that'll be remedied tomorrow night. Until then, I had to share with everyone the great news. Of course, this means, that it is for sale. So go order one!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Moon-Bloody-Bullets-Anthology/dp/0984261095/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278083718&sr=8-1">Amazon</a><br />
<a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/e/9780984261093/?itm=1&USRI=silver+moon+bloody+bullets">Barnes and Noble</a> Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3789712004290020746.post-8496898384888000102010-06-19T20:58:00.003-04:002010-06-19T21:02:09.532-04:00Back SpaceWords.<br />
<br />
As an aspiring writer, I’d like to think I traffic in words. That I have a pretty decent grasp on them, and can use them to adequately express my intensions. And because of that, the meanings are conveyed without confusion and without undue influence.<br />
<br />
Right. And my side job is a secretary for the Tooth Fairy.<br />
<br />
I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth so many times, I can taste the sole of my shoe before the end of the sentence comes. Over the years, I’ve become more cautious and choose my words more carefully. Becoming a step-parent as young as I did made me all the more aware of the words I chose…because nothing is more sobering than a two-year-old repeating them back at you. I have been on the speaking end of this foot-in-the-mouth disease so often, I’d forgotten what it was like to be on the receiving end of it. Until this week.<br />
<br />
The rhyme goes: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. I’m sure whoever developed it did so with good intension to make children feel better about being made fun of. They’re just words; they can’t hurt you. <br />
<br />
Whoever said that was a liar.<br />
<br />
No, they can’t break your bones, but they can reach a deeper part of your soul where pain is defined on levels that could make DEFCON 1 look tame. If words couldn’t hurt you, then how can an author bring you to tears at the emotional climax of a story? How could they make you tighten the blanket around you and send your eyes darting into the shadows of your room as the hero searches for the bad guy you know is lurking? How could they make you laugh when the heroine says something witty at the precise moment of impending doom? How could they make your heart race, your palms sweat, your mouth go dry as you follow your favorite character’s path towards redemption or destruction? <br />
<br />
Words don’t just hurt. They make you feel. They evoke emotions, fueling the fire of passion that lies within. I’ve been trying to teach that for so long, I forgot what it was like to be on the learning end. Lesson learned. There but for the grace of God go I.<br />
<br />
Words are power. Choose them carefully, for once they are said, they cannot be unsaid. Unlike writing, life does not have a backspace button.Kelly Metzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16393486174448300525noreply@blogger.com10