tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59460339183441998082024-03-14T00:23:44.370-05:00CARRIE COX: Wandering with WonderwegianCarrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-50383117751585244452012-03-07T21:54:00.001-06:002016-01-20T13:18:36.671-06:00On to Greener GrassToo many issues with Blogger lately. I tried to upgrade to a domain name and had repeated trouble with even that.
So, I've moved over to www.carriedalby.com
I'm in the process of transporting my blog posts over there, so please follow my further wanderings at the new site.
Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-47957069782815127092012-02-28T22:43:00.000-06:002012-02-28T22:43:54.200-06:00Alphabet BlogI've taken this from writer buddy Stephanie, who took it from another friend, etc but I changed a few alphabet words to mix it up a bit.
A. Age: I’m a bicentennial baby. You do the math.
B. Birth
Order: 3rd out of 4. Third is the nerd.
C. Chore that
you hate: Cleaning tubs/showers. And bathing kids is my
least favorite “mommy chore.” So glad they are getting older…
D. Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-62237335818846319932012-02-20T13:10:00.000-06:002012-02-20T13:13:25.447-06:00The Art of Procrastination
I’m the most productive procrastinator I know.
You can tell how much I’m avoiding something by how
organized my home is. In the past few days I’ve cleaned the kids’ playroom,
organized their closets, straightened my desk, and helped my parents with their
organizing.
This past Friday, I received my full professional
critique back from Laurie Halse Anderson. (Yes, you have the right to Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-78366038216385107032012-02-04T21:46:00.000-06:002012-02-06T22:22:24.843-06:00Middle School Blues
The years I spent in middle school were terrific and
terrible. I was trying to find my style and express myself—the slightly pudgy,
tall geek posing as a rebel. (Yes, it carried over into high school, too. And
adulthood, minus the rebel part.) And no, I didn’t fool my friends or family.
I took gifted/advanced classes in a four-track-year-round
school in a culturally diverse neighborhood Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-32145298827813547122012-01-17T23:12:00.000-06:002012-01-17T23:12:22.518-06:00In Which I revert to Rambling
I put a call out for blog ideas on my Facebook page
(www.facebook.com/AuthorCarrieCox)
the other day. The two options listed are difficult, to say the least. One
humorous, one serious. I might tackle them at a future date, but I need
something fluffy to get me through this week.
Music, as always, pulls me into the writing zone. I
was productive last week, which was good since I needed to Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-32489865458124865662012-01-12T20:06:00.000-06:002012-01-12T20:06:31.348-06:00Attack of the Writer Blob Blog
I’ve noticed that my production level tapers off the
last half of the week and I need to do something about it.
Maybe it’s the fact that I typically bake on Wednesdays,
so I have a cookie hangover Thursdays.
Or the several late nights of research and writing
builds up and my system crashes for a day (or two) to reset itself.
Add that to the fact that I haven’t officially
exercised in Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-71140104424979737682011-12-14T22:17:00.000-06:002011-12-14T22:17:18.835-06:00Christmas ApologiesI hear the song “Christmas Time is Here” several times a week—almost daily—during the month of December. My special needs son is a Peanuts head. He has perfect pitch and a great talent for mimicking voices. Next time you want to hear Charlie Brown music, just ask. He serenaded my friend thing morning…
No, the singing isn’t what I want to apologize for. (Unless, uh… it really hurts your ears.)
I Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-30745730299864108662011-12-05T15:41:00.000-06:002011-12-05T15:41:46.704-06:00Accounted ForYes—I’m still here.
Seems like lots of people took a blog break but hopefully their reasons were productive ones, like National Novel Writing Month. Mine, not so glamorous. My computer froze/died. Rest in peace laptop motherboard… rest in peace.
While waiting almost 30 days (thanks to delayed shipping and then issues in customs) for my built-to-order computer to arrive, I had the not so lovelyCarrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-45288881018226734822011-10-16T21:50:00.000-05:002011-10-16T21:50:01.538-05:00It's been another whirlwind month. Mobile Writers Guild events and planning meetings, field trips and social outings for the kidlets, plus my own milestones.
Last week I sent the complete Corroded manuscript to Laurie Halse Anderson. It arrived at her address Saturday the 15th. So the waiting game is on to hear her critique.
In an attempt to keep from thinking about my story being in the handsCarrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-43663136692328842382011-09-20T20:20:00.001-05:002011-09-20T20:22:56.419-05:00September Madness"The Month of Madness" is what September 2011 shall be known as in my life.
The month when this homebody was away as often as home during regular hours.
The month that forced this shy lady into several public speaking events.
The month my kids cried because I left them so often.
The month the grandparents were taken advantage of for free childcare. (Thanks, Nana and Grandpa!)
And right in theCarrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-69551913603478750282011-09-04T17:15:00.000-05:002011-09-04T17:15:59.453-05:00A Month, RevisitedThe past few weeks have been filled with home, family, friends, and literary adventures. Just like Mary Weber, the main character of Corroded, I've been expanding my comfort zone by participating in new experiences. And with each new merit badge of life I earn, the anxiety over the unknown lessens.
Examples—aren't you curious to see what I consider adventurous? Probably second hand to most Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-45492305725518767652011-08-12T22:05:00.001-05:002011-08-13T08:33:13.182-05:00Corroded SoundtrackThe thing for authors—especially young adult ones—to do these days is to create PLAYLISTS for their novels. I've written song lists for SOUNDTRACKS (because I see my stories as movies in my head) for all my writing, beginning twenty years ago.
Yes, with the first novel-length story I began at the age of fourteen, I had an inspiring soundtrack of hair bands. Ever visit me in my teens? My walls Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-42958229053071402272011-08-01T22:16:00.000-05:002011-08-01T22:16:24.960-05:00They Speak--I ListenOn my July 6th blog I coined the term “fantabutitus” and spoke of my always pleasant encounters with those I admire. Amid the telling I said:
I'm a dedicated fan, loyal to those who speak to me
even when the spotlight has moved on to newer faces.
(Speak to me? Yes, speak to me. I shall blog about that next time.)
And the next blog happened weeks later, recapping my month spent hiding among Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-50557036282922467282011-07-24T23:04:00.000-05:002011-07-24T23:04:23.799-05:00Pass-A-Long TagI was tagged (FIRST) yesterday by the fantabulous Lėna Roy for a “bloggy game”. You have to answered these questions, after being tagged by someone else, and then pass the tag on to eight more bloggers.
This will be the first blog attempt at embedding a link under someone's name, so bear with me if it doesn't go as planned.
What do you think of when you the hear the word tag?
A gaggle of Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-12198381518272669342011-07-21T22:45:00.000-05:002011-07-21T22:45:15.475-05:00Escape into ReadingThis month has been filled with family and home. I've been surrounded by a few nieces and many more nephews, and all the things that accompany them. Laundry, food, messes, and noise. And of course fun, laughter, love, and adventure. But I've had to cope with lack of quiet and thinking time. So I went into literary hibernation.
I escaped what was going on around me by snuggling into books. Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-15143577236111392222011-07-06T11:59:00.001-05:002011-08-01T22:18:08.140-05:00FANTABUTITUSI suffer from fantabutitus (fan-tab-you-tie-tus). That's Wonderlonian (One-der-lone-e-an) for being a fan of fabulous people!
As of today, I have not had a bad encounter with someone I'm a fan of who I've been able to meet in person or have contact with online. My eldest sister pointed out, over a decade ago, that I was blessed with great experiences. Apparently she's heard horror stories about Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-39357329096515524112011-06-23T13:53:00.000-05:002011-06-23T13:53:07.448-05:00What was I thinking?!Yes, I used two, count them, TWO, punctuation marks because my situation is a question and an exclamatory. Read onto find out why.
If you're a reader of this blog, know me personally, or even just hear about me from someone else, you probably know I'm a writer. People have paid me for my words, though not as often as I'd like, and my words have been read by possibly hundreds of thousands of Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-59203056030942652772011-05-27T23:15:00.000-05:002011-05-27T23:15:49.964-05:00Reading by the NumbersThis morning I went out with the kidlets and friends on an alligator hunt and spied three gators.
It's always fun to see animals in their natural habitat—especially from a safe vantage point.
This was our first week of summer break. Although I'm not officially starting back to homeschooling until mid-July, I've started the middle child on learning to read and the eldest with typing skills. It's Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-2469910538838823062011-05-08T18:09:00.000-05:002011-05-08T18:09:35.896-05:00R&RIt's been a week of healing and transitions.
I was elected president of the local writer's guild this week so I'm busy networking with the new board members. I'm excited to try to give back some of what I've been given in the past two years I've been member of the group.
While recovering from surgery, I've had the pleasure to lay around and read so my list of books is larger than normal for Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-65657784085808828822011-04-25T15:25:00.001-05:002011-04-25T15:27:15.690-05:00Spring n Things
I hope everyone has enjoyed the celebration of rebirth. Oh, to be able to experience pure forgiveness and mercy—such a blessing in trying times!
Life's been, well—life, so my blogging is lacking. Some things are too personal (or boring) to post about. But I have passed a few sharable milestones this past month—breaking over 45,000 words on Corroded and completing 165 days of official Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-73252029262873358662011-03-22T15:59:00.000-05:002011-03-22T15:59:35.232-05:00Yellow-coated FluffSpring is great—for the most part.
I dread what spring means—summer is coming. During spring, I typically mope around mourning the loss of whatever tidbit of winter we were blessed to have been given over the past few months. Autumn, on the other hand, is a rebirth. Returning to nature after being trapped inside because the mosquitoes and humidity are too much to bear—especially when children Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-63800118322343769412011-03-09T13:58:00.000-06:002011-03-09T13:58:13.992-06:00Past DueYep, still here.
I was blessed to be able to help watch over and care for the matriarch of our family, my great-aunt—who was the eldest of our four generation household—during her last weeks on earth. We took a week off from homeschooling so we could spend more time with family. Overall, it's been peaceful, even during the peak of the bustle. Still lingering sadness. We all miss her.
(Taken at Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-39927037076057820192011-01-27T14:27:00.001-06:002011-01-28T13:53:18.494-06:00Of Books, Movies and MusicHaven't done much writing lately, but my WIP, Corroded, is over 38000 words now—131 double spaced pages. It only took a couple years to get to where I am, but I'm here! To think I used to push out complete drafts of novels (200-300 pages) in less than a year—but that was B.C.
Before Children.
That's still slow to some people's standards, but I will say that I was a full time student at the time.Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-34324791313705132092011-01-09T13:27:00.001-06:002011-01-09T13:29:53.276-06:00How the New Year GoesHere it is, the start of the second week of a new year, and I'm nursing a sprained ankle. Fortunately, it's not the worst I've twisted the delicate joint, but it's still a pain to deal with when there are stairs in the house and multiple children to keep up with. And I've used my down time these past twenty-four hours to do extra reading as well as scanning old photos to upload into my computer. Carrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5946033918344199808.post-61220047339083872682010-12-15T21:55:00.001-06:002011-01-09T13:37:30.681-06:00Christmas Time is HereThe juggling routine is improving. I've managed to write several pages this week, on both fiction and non-fiction projects. Hooray for me!
The things I've been reading on the side are:
Teach Me by R.A. Nelson
For my fluffy book (I have to indulge myself every so often) I just started The Luxe by Anna Godbersen. YA historical but I had to try to book just based on the cover. I've had my eyesCarrie Dalbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05202019382171205117noreply@blogger.com0