My first rejection came from a rude secretary in the Quad Cities when I was driving the route Mallory took in Beta. I stopped at a plant that processed meat gelatin. (Yeah, sounds disgusting to me, too) When I asked the secretary if there was a PR person available she told me one didn't exist. When I asked her who might help me, she said he wasn't available. I gave her my name and contact…

I thought about this topic several weeks ago when outlining a chapter to put at the beginning of Mallory Petersen's next adventure, Delta. In the story she meets a classmate about halfway through the story. When I wrote the first draft, I thought the scene worked, but after reading it to a critique group, and discussing it with a friend, I decided I needed to introduce the classmate earlier…

I wanted to write this on one of the reviews I've done on my other blog, braytonsbookbuzz.wordpress.com but decided instead to write this up as a regular blog. One of the reasons I chose to do it here instead of there is because I initially thought I'd write this at the beginning of one review and it might seem like I was lambasting the author, which, essentially, I am. I could have written up a separate…

One day in August of 1991, I was uptown and saw the local taekwondo club had a special offer of two weeks' free classes. I'd always been interested in martial arts, so I thought this sounded like a good deal and started classes.

I'd been in Oskaloosa less than a year and soon after starting my job at the radio station I joined the local community theatre group. I had been acting in plays since…

I really enjoy the forms of the American Taekwondo Association. The white belt form has 18 moves and you work yourself up to 81 moves for the first degree black belt form. White belt starts with some very basic moves, punch, front and side kicks, low, high, and middle blocks, and a knifehand strike (karate chop). Each form thereafter introduces a new move or combination move with some extra turns, and so…

My first bike was a 5-speed Schwinn. The gear shift was in the middle with a big black knob on the end. Banana-type seat. Later, I had a ten speed which I outgrew. In Oskaloosa, I had, for a short time, a three speed several decades old, complete with a headlight. Unfortunately, I kept it in the laundry room and someone stole it. Now I have a ten speed that is just a bit small for me, but it…

I went out for track in both junior high and high school. I never placed in any of my races. I went out for basketball as a junior in high school but the first warm up made my legs hurt for three days.

I'm not a fast runner but I've built up the endurance through taekwondo and through persistence.

I break down my running exercises into two categories. Intervals and…

We now return this blog to its regularly scheduled program. lol

This was my main thrust at the Sisters in Crime meeting. I discussed my fitness regimen, how I workout. Then I related those workouts to writing. So, let's spend a few weeks on just this aspect.

I discussed my workout regimen in that I have a lottery system that determines what I do from day to day (or day to…

I think of Means as part of the cop phrase, “The suspect had means, motive, and opportunity.” I take it and revise it just a bit so that Means includes preparation, opportunity, and follow up.

Preparation

When it comes to fitness, you have to prepare for the workout. This includes cardio work to get the heart pumping. Proper warmup starts with cardio. You need the heart going and…

Ten days before July meeting of my local (and only Iowa branch of) Sisters in Crime I was asked by the chapter president to assist with the presentation. In previous meetings, we've were visited by a law enforcement officer, a wonderful woman who self published a couple books, and other wonderful presenters. In July, though, K. didn't have anybody scheduled so she asked me if I wanted to share the…

Good day,

I am very grateful for the interest you have shown in my plight and I want to assure you that you will be greatly rewarded for what you have chosen to do. Although we are just knowing and communicating with each other for the first time but I believe that our heavenly father has directed me to you as I have already prayed and searched over the…

Hello,

This message may be coming to you as a surprise but I need your help.Few days back we made an unannounced vacation trip to Kiev Ukraine.Everything was going fine until last night when we were mugged on our way back to the hotel.They Stole all our cash,credit cards and cellphone but thank God we still have our lives and passport.Another shocking is that the hotel manager has been…

Since I'm involved in martial arts, I write a series with a character who is a taekwondo school owner as well as a private investigator. Yes, she carries a gun, but she relies on her martial arts skills more often.

Two challenges I have in writing this series are 1). to create scenes where my main character, Mallory Petersen, can use her skills and 2). for her to use a…

NOTE: So, I should point out here at the beginning that I've decided to go with the title Chapters for this series of blog posts. I suppose nearly any of the stand alone posts could fit under this category, but I think I'll try to keep these with where there is a humorous complaint or comment. Searching the web I've discovered several other sites to tap when this current crop, originally listed back on 4/25,…

What do belly dancers, ghost hunters, tarot cards, and crystal from Brazil all have in common? They and much more were seen at the 25^th Annual Metaphysical Fair (commonly known as the Psychic Fair) held last weekend at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

This annual events brought over 80 vendors and speakers. If you're a true believer, an open-minded skeptic like me, or just curious, this…

“I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.”

What is needed is a phone that will list the name of the person who's calling even if you don't have that person as a contact. So much easier to avoid sales people or telemarketers. I still get calls from them every once in awhile.

This truth reminded…

A couple weeks ago I was watching a horror movie (and may I digress for just a moment to say that horror movies don't really impress me much anymore? One has to be pretty darn good to be 'scary'.) and I thought about some of the lessons or truisms to be learned from these movies. I posted some of them on Facebook but later I wrote them down to post them on my blog. Plus, this would be a good…

Today I join in the World Blog Tour. I've done something similar in the past but I hope to keep it going by first, thanking the one who proceeded me, Sherri Hanson, (www.sherriehansen.wordpress.com…

<a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/964635566?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/964635566?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-full"></a>Whenever I leave work I usually depart with the words, “Have fun” to the person on the next shift. It's been a fairly standard saying for years. I never mean it as a sarcastic statement as if I expect the next shift to be droll or rockin'…

This week, I introduce a new list of future blog ideas. This list wasn't originally to inspire creativity, but nevertheless, I thought it humorous enough to keep, share, and from which to draw topics. Some of the future blogs will deal with the writing industry, but many will concern my life and some of my experiences. I hope to give you inspiration for future stories if you're a writer…