Too Many Books

Well, my first attempt at National November Writing Month was an utter FAIL... unless, of course, you consider it a success to write 25k in words when the goal is 50. When you look at it that way , I only half failed. Awesomespice. (I'm pretty sure I'll only add spice onto words when being sarcastic, Jayme. I want to use it correctly, but I just can't. I hate to say it, but I think it's like fetch : it's just never going to happen. Sorry, Gretchen Weiners.) Yes, it's Monday and I am moody. I feel like someone took a hacksaw to my sinus cavities last night while I was sleeping, and when they were finished with that torture, they went ahead and stuck a hot poker in my bronchial areas. It's all grim and phlegm over here at musings of amber murphy today. Still, I vow to accentuate the positive. Look out for LoDecWriMo, which stands for Local December Writing Month, and is my own little venture to write fifty thousand words in the same month as Chri...

Did anyone else have their holiday weekend interrupted with work today? The tyrptophan has not even worn of yet, and I'm back at the bank. Clearly, it is the slowest day of the year, as the Black Friday shoppers have no money left to deposit, and the sane folk are warm at home, eating turkey omelets and watching football. (Louisville's game starts at 11:00 this morning, in order for us to share our losing season with a national audience on ESPN 2. Suffice it to say, it wasn't too much of a sacrifice to come to work rather than attending the last home game of the season. It's like fourty degrees outside, so the weather is even less desirable than the dismal number in the Cardinal-win-column.) In other news, I learned a lesson yesterday. If one wants to keep her blog semi-separate from her "real" life, mentioning said blog in a facebook status update is really not the way to go... especially on or near a Thursday, in my case. Last night, my brother-in-law ...

My husband will probably kill me if he catches me writing this, because he doesn't really like when I bring it up. I mean, it's been over three months since this happened, so I think he should just get over it. Here goes. On September 6th, just after 4:00 in the morning, I updated my facebook status to "I think I am getting divorced." Needless to say, I awoke the next afternoon to a facebook inbox and a voicemail inbox flooded with concerms. (No one clicked "like" on that status. I guess I don't have anyone pining for me in such a way that they are rooting for me to leave my husband. Kind of sad.) Here's what caused the status update: Hubs and I were hanging out at that bar - you know, the place that would eventually cause me to puke in my own car and stuff. He made a trip to the restroom and I sat on a barstool alone. I was starting to wonder if he fell in or something, but spotted him across the way talking to some pals he ran into. I s...

And please click on the word turkey for a You Tube clip of the funniest Family Feud episode of all time, where a guy can't saying  turkey.

January 20 at 7:44pm Amber Leigh Tidd Murphy has a new president, and a new precedent. February 1 at 8:26pm is superbolwing February 23 at 2:49pm got a (tax) refund. I dig it! March 2 at 10:37pm is another year older and wiser.... thanks for all the birthday wishes! June 26 at 9:28pm I never update facebook anymore... but I felt the need to sign up for twitter?! July 20 at 5:24pm just did the grocery shopping for probably the first time since we've been married... I'd kind of forgotten how nice it is to choose ones own food. :) August 31 at 8:24am · one year down, the rest to go. happy one year! anniversary, murph. i love you. · September 1 at 3:02pm sometimes i secretly wish michael vick would kidnap my dog. is that bad? September 6 at 4:02am I think I am getting divorced. September 6 at 2:10pm Alcohol + facebook at 4:00 a.m. = bad idea. September 11 at 7:54am Where were you? I was home. I declined a substitute teaching job that day. I am so th...

I wish I could say I remember when I got the bear, that it was a gift from an important relative. But, I don't remember. I have no recollection of receiving him: no memory of unwrapping him from a box or pulling him from a gift bag and saying, "Oh my gosh! I wanted this bear so much." It could have been a Christmas gift, or something I got on my birthday. He might have come directly from a plastic store bag, given to me at some random moment rather than on a special occasion, or could have been a toy I earned for being a good girl one day in Wal-Mart. Maybe the reason I don't remember the moment I received Snuggles is because it just seems like he has always been there. Without shame, I will admit that I slept with that little guy until a man started sharing my bed on a regular basis. These days, he lives in my closet, in a tote bag with some lesser-revered stuffed animals. He's actually in pretty good shape: still has two eyes and a little nose firmly a...

This morning I stumbled across a mix cd my husband made for me a few years ago and my heart pitterpattered when I discovered track five, the song Forever,  which is officially a Beach Boys song, but in my heart will always be the hit ballard performed by Uncle Jesse on Full House when he fronted the band Jesse and the Rippers. Don't tell me you don't remember that episode... the horrible remix, and then the sensitive music video at the end. And who could forget when he sang it to Aunt Becky at their wedding? All I have to say is this: Suck it, Robert Pattinson. You ain't no Stamos.

Seriously, it has just been one of those days. I want to regale you with something witty and whatnot, but I just don't have the energy today, so don't expect anything too earth shaking. Here goes: When I was in the fourth grade, I had a friend named Tina. Tina told me she was a model, and that she had a boyfriend who was in college and that he was also her photographer. I told her that I was a model, and that I also had a boyfriend who was in college and was my photographer. I thought she was lying, I thought she knew I was lying. I thought she knew that I thought she was lying. (Et cetera. I told you this post was going to be uber stupid.) So, Tina and I would talk on the phone after school pretty much every single day, and one day I told her that Trevor (oh, that was my fake boyfriends fake name) was at my house and that she could talk to him if she wanted. She wanted to, so I was all, "Hang on, he's in the other room, let me get him." Then I disgui...

Seriously, Sarah? I am more irritated with you now than I was when you called Katie Couric perky on Oprah this week (and wasn't that the annoying pot calling the whistling kettle black?) and more irritated than I was when the interview with Katie Couric aired and you couldn't think of one book or magazine that you read on the regular. (Oh, I'm sorry - you chose not to disclos e the titles of books and magazines and newspaper you devour, because Katie Couric was annoying you and treating you like an uneducated inuit.) Maybe you should have just swallowed your ego and mentioned Newsweek. I mean, I'm not suggesting that the cover page would look different if you had, but could you try any harder to alienate the media? I know, I know, they are all evil, with their leftist agendas and loose morals. I understand. It's so difficult when the world won't give a feminist maverick a fighting chance, and harder still when that maverick has been ordered to stay on scrip...

Here in Louisville, Kentucky is it below fifty degrees and drizzling. I quipped on my facebook status that the song of the day is November Rain. But, I digress. That is not the purpose for this post. When I want to avoid actually writing the words of my work in progress, I read about how I can make it better. And since I am often stuck behind my desk at a computer and can't spend endless hours at bookstore cafes sipping one hazelnut latte after another while browsing through books on my craft, I often look for websites that provide useful insights. Today, I found author Sandra Miller 's website, which offers great fiction writing tips on aspects of writing ranging from character development to point of view and perspective. She also has this to say about creating a vivid setting: What about weather? The weather in your character's world will change. Depending on the season, you may have rain, or snow, or blistering heat. If you don't provide a sense...

I'm feeling rather inspired with my writing. I guess it stems from deciding on a jumping off point: beginning with my main character's childhood. Waves of euphoria rush around in my brain as I rework two short stories into the beginning of my manuscript - fingers fly across the keyboard as I type the words I penned so thoughtfully years ago. My eyes are focused downward, in my lap, where the short stories live on yellowed pages. The word count soars upward, which is fullfilling, and it's interesting work, too. I've made changes to certain sections, adding more depth to the characters, extending certain scenes, giving a more solid voice to the talking heads in Laurel's early life. But, the unwritten lingers in the back of my mind. Now, I can't wait to work on the rest of the book. I think that the majority of my previous frustrations hinged on a strong desire to start from Laurel's childhood. Because, as much as the story is about her attempt t...

So, wedding obsession starts and ends here. I promise. Some of you might be getting tired of my endless string of photos. However, if you are half as obsessed with my wedding as I am, you can watch the highlights! Click here to visit Something Blue Wedding Videos.  Since my bro-in-law owns the business, you can see three "chapters" from my wedding dvd. The highlight reel is the second video in the left column. The credits reel (which is hillarious!) is below the first video, and my photo montage is on the bottom right. Also, if you explore the website you'll see one of my pics on the main page. I'm famous. The purple shoes that have inspired envy. Maybe Susan R. Mills will use them in her blog... just an idea. Everything looks more magical in black and white, don't you think? Next Friday, it's onward to honeymoon photos, because, clearly, you want to see them.

There's that certain kind of drunk, one I don't experience often. Thankfully. Last Saturday was supposed to be fairly low key. I was content to stay indoors and piddle around the internet, watch a movie, maybe work a little furiously on my WIP. (Capitalized for Deb's benefit.) Hubster had other ideas. His best friend, who owns a pet cemetary, incidentally, (I shit you not!) wanted to go out for drinks. He and his wife had their second child in June, and her mother was baby-sitting. I think it's probably the first time they've been out since the baby came. Who was I to turn down their double date offer? Afterall, I hadn't been properly smashed for awhile since Halloween. (Who am I kidding?) So. We were dive-bar bound. There was good conversation and yes, there was karaoke. I performed a moving rendition of Jann Arden's Insensitive . (No, but really, I did sing it well. I swear.) Then, my hubster's friend opted to order a round of drinks for ...

As I have referenced in past posts, I'm having a bit of difficulty with the present action in my thus far untitled wip. Here is the meat of the story: Laurel is tweny-five-ish (don't worry, she'll have a definite age before her creator queries anyone) and her exboyfriend dies. She believes it was suicide and that she was, in large part or in some part, to blame, even though they broke up a couple of years before the accident. (Are you intrigued? I hope you are intrigued.) (To prologue or not to prologue? I love my prologue. My mc gets the news: the boy died.) Either way, when the story begins at chapter one, where should it start? I have started it a few ways. I started it a couple of months before David, the aforementioned exboyfriend, died. I started it with Laurel having trouble sleeping. She spirals downward into a certain mental anguish, a manic depression... a preocupation with her past, her present, her, her, herself.  I wrote this for a coup...

I wrote a little this morning. Not, mind you, a lot. I'm still about 6,000 words behind the approximate-Nano-worthy word count... oh, and that's only if you count the words I wrote before the beginning of November. I figure I'm allowed to cheat since I am not officially signed up, and I since I had less than 5,000 words written before the month stared, so it's not really that big of a deal. (Well, I would have a lot more than that if you counted the backstory about my main character's childhood, which I want to embed into the ms as a flashback, but I am not yet sure where or how I'm going to use it, so for now, it's not considered part of the word count.) <-- longest sentence ever. It feels good to admit that I am cheating. Although, let's be honest. It kind of sucks, too. I'm about to beat the living daylights out of my inner editor, who is being really mean to me lately, and telling me that my blog posts suck as much as my first draft. ...

While stumbling around this blog  called The Elegant Variation, I discovered a really great article on autobiographical fiction  written by Melvyn Bragg. I'll quote the same passage from the article that Mark Saavas did: It is often thought that autobiography cannot reach into the core of fiction; that the author’s own direct experience is too limiting a factor. That only if you step wholly outside yourself can fiction be formed. But why not step inside yourself? The brain, we now know, is more complicated than the universe, and we are just at the beginning of the exploration of what happens in there. What better laboratory for fiction than the brain that writes it? The more I write fiction, the more I see it as the best way to get at the truth and the only reason for writing it. Autobiography can be a high road to that end. Yes, it might be nine months old, but the article really speaks to me...What do you think?

I made twenty-five of these frames from Garden Ridge ($2.50 each!) with different quotes in each one. They were lovely additions to the tables at the reception and made great gifts for people who were involved in the wedding day. Our favors were fortune cookies with love fortunes inside. I used four different sayings -- my favorite one was "all you need is love." I bought the boxes and cookies online, and assembled them myself with the help of my mama! Half the boxes were purple with yellow ribbon. I made our programs online using http://www.vistaprint.com/ , and I really loved the simplicity of them. I used no capital letters whatsoever. I also ordered them in magnets and gave them away to friends and family. My cake topper was the creation I was most impressed with, because I spent $5.00 on it. I bought the wooden "m" at Michael's along with some purple paint and a sponge. A couple of coats later and... viola! I didn't make this, but it was my id...

A few things: 1. Clearly, there are really no excuses to justify what you see above, unless you count that it was my bachelorette party, the last stop of the night, and that I didn't puke once and was allowed to sing twice. 2. The heartless bitch  bridesmaid who made this dvd for me is no longer my friend. 3. I once won $50.00 in a karaoke contest. I am not sure I will ever be able to top this post, but here's hoping. Be sure to check out LiLu's TMI Thursday Post-Secret Edition part two!

I love getting awards. I think it's because I need  want affirmation. I've received three awards in the last week, and now I'm going to brag about them! Tina Lynn over at Sweet Niblets gave me two awards. (I'm starting to wonder if she has the same kind of crush on me that she has on Fiction Goupie .) Anyway, I ain't complain'. The first award is the Kreativ Blogger Award. This award excites me to to end, because I need affirmation because of its cute spelling. Well, not really. The spelling is actually quite annoying, but it's the thought that counts. So, the torch shall be passed to the following bloggers, who make me feel happy in my heart with their ingenuity. First, to my fellow Hoosier the inDefatigable mjenks at A Crown of Thistles  for rewriting children's books, blowing up pumpkins all last month, and for almost puking in a girl's mouth one time. Second, to Carissa at Carissa Jaded for her stormy blog header and devotion to...

Dear Santa, As you well know, I've been an extremely good girl this year. Not only have I stopped using my credit cards, but I have also cut down on my spending by eating lunch at home during the week. I really miss Jersey Mikes and Panera Bread and Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Here is what I want, you jolly old man... 1. A good hair straightener that doesn't cost $15.00 and isn't sold at Wal-Mart. I've heard you can get a decent one at Ulta. (It doesn't even have to be pink.) 2. A houndstooth coat. I realize that basic black might be better, so if you think the houndstooth pattern is a trend, Santa, then I'll understand. Please just choose something that won't show tan doggy hair. 3. There are so many books I'd like to read, Santa. Here are a few that are on my must-read list. * The Post Secret Books. All of them. I'd prefer if you'd choose copies in which strangers have hand written their own secrets, if it isn't too much troub...

I had never heard of Nano ( National Novel Writing Month ) until this year. For those of you who don't know, you better ask somebody. Well, since you asked, I'll tell you. It's insanity, that's what it is. The goal is to write 50,000 words - the equivalent of 175 pages -- in the month of November. I didn't sign up to officially participate, but figured I would write the approximate 1500 words per day in an attempt to finish my manuscript before Christmas. I thought it would be such great motivation, knowing that other writers out there were sitting at their laptops and pounding the keys, forming sentences and paragraphs and scenes. But I'm behind already and considering the wave of a white towel. I'd written 1500 words by this morning and proceeded to quickly delete the crappy half this afternoon. I think that November is a sucky month for writing - November 1st, particularly, is really not the best day to start doing anything. Whether you were in a ...