The Pacific Garbage Patch

Every family has their talks over the dinner table, mine is no different. Our topics have ranged anywhere from local gossip to things we've heard or seen in the news. This week the Olympics have been the obvious conversation starter, the Chick-fil-a protest and its Appreciation Day were among others. But today at lunch, my sister brought up a topic that, embarrassingly, until today I had no idea existed:

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Aurora, You're In My Prayers

We've all heard the news by now. Newspapers and the online media have been perpetuating this event over and over again until there is no action that hasn't been placed under scrutiny. The photo of the red-haired, blank-faced shooter has been shown everyday on the news since it was taken. Interviews both by phone and on camera have been made available for anyone and everyone to watch. It's because of all these things that I've waited to post any of my thoughts or musings on the matter. But even with the delay in the post, I assure you, I still have just as many questions and just as much anger and shock as I did the moment I saw the events unfold on the news.

I was up at eight in the morning and I didn't leave my television until two in the afternoon. I watched Chief Oates' news conference (both of them, actually), I flipped back and forth between CNN and Fox News (CNN gets info faster, but the female host was absolutely awful so it was hard to watch for very long), desperate to know all the details on the survivors and the condition of the psychotic grad student who had caused all this evil.

I won't go back through the facts in this post or rehash my feelings on this terrible event - there isn't a reason to and in all honesty, my feelings don't really matter at this point. What does matter is that the city of Aurora and the families devastated by this tragedy overcome this and that they remain in our thoughts and prayers.  I have no doubt that this community will come together and grow stronger as time passes, but support from all across this great nation - and the world for that matter - will only help the healing more so.

God bless,
L.A.

To All My Lovelies

Sorry for the blog/posting/updating neglect, but life’s been a beetch.

* Doggie had a stroke. (She's recovered now, but loss of bladder control, endless pacing, and a million other little things have convinced me that "recovered" is another way of saying "not dead yet.")

* My cousin had a baby. (I have babysat said baby and I am now certain I will NEVER have babies.)

* I moved my sister. (TWICE. And from one end of the state to the other. In case you haven't looked at a map of Texas lately, that's a whole lot of state to cover!)

* I lost my job. (I have a new one, thankfully, but the pay is shit, pardon my language.)

* I moved back in with my parents. [(See above.)Enough said on that one, I believe.]

So, as you see, life has been busy and oh so very stressful. The good news is that I’ve written the outline for both of my stories. Aaaaand I may or may not have started another that’s waiting in my editor's inbox for her perusal. ;)

Once I have the all-clear to post a sneaky-peeky, I will.

Stay tuned!
-Lily

Talon vs Thatcher

Recently, there has been a bit of a debate on who Tempest should have ended up with. The arguments on Lit were interesting: “Talon is like the husband away at war. By being with Thatcher she was betraying him! This is how it should be!” or “Talon and Tempest’s mating is like an arranged marriage.” (I am totally paraphrasing most of this, but I got the gist of the two sides, I’m sure.) It tickled me pink to see the debate and those torn between the two, and it feeds my soul to know that I caused it all. *insert evil cackle here*

So, let me admit something: I am totally one hundred percent Team Thatcher. He is flawed. He can be harsh, and odd, and just a little irritating at times. He lies, but everyone lies, and sometimes it’s hard to see what side he’s really on. He’s not tall, dark and handsome – he’s not even all that pretty. But he’s good and real and determined to do the right thing, even if people hate him for it. But let’s not cut Talon short, ‘kay? Talon has been asleep for over two-thousand years. He’s had no time to mature or develop. He’s been thrust into a completely foreign world than the one he grew up in. He’s the last of the Ancients, and his sworn enemy is taking over the world with little resistance. His allies fear him, and the only people he can depend upon are his human mate and Thatcher, a Raspan-Hybrid who just so happens to be the son of the Raspan hell-bent on decimating the human race.

Also, let me put it this way: if I had made Thatcher and Tempest a couple, the story would not have played out like it needed to. For awhile, I tried to write the story with Thatch and Temp as the romantic main couple, but things just fell apart. Talon became an unnecessary third wheel – and a broody, irritating one at that! – and the story wasn’t the same. But with Tempest and Talon a couple, it leaves Thatcher to go off and do the dirty, gritty things that at heart he truly loves doing – and besides, he’s got a war to end. He couldn’t save the world if he was rolling the furs with Tempest, hmm? ;)

Food for thought,

L.A.

On Punks and Idea-Snatchers.

The title says it all. This post regards "idea snatchers" and those irritating little punks around the web who think it is ever-so-clever to steal the ideas, hard work, and words of another person and post it under their own name. What's even worse is that many of these people are demanding money for work they never did!

Now, let me say this first: so far as I know, no one has stolen my stories. Part of me is thankful for that, but trust me I also feel like 'what the F is my work not good enough?' It's a conundrum, I swear it. But back to what I was saying -- no one has stolen my stories, published them under an alias, and received any funds. BUT, I DO see stories on Literotica and other publishing sites around the web where various writers have taken my ideas and have used them to come up with their own twist.

So secondly, I'm not at all trying to say that I'm the only person in the world who was written a story about gargoyles, species warfare, or girls falling in love with "monsters". I'm also not the only person to write about people who've met in a coffee shop, fell in love, but realized they had some issues to work out. Please, I'm not *that* vain as to believe crap like that. But that's not to say that I haven't noticed a number of nonhuman stories where it walks like my gargoyle, it looks like my gargoyle, but is called a vampire/incubus/whatever; or that my idea of separating a name with a ' to divide given name and clan name is being slapped around like a loveless child (click link, go to "On Names" if you're curious as to what I mean). Also, so many people are getting banged in a coffee shop now and suddenly finding themselves with a long-haired, green-eyed, bad boy with redeeming qualities but gosh so many issues trying to claim the beautiful ice queen protagonist as his own.

Come on people. Get your own ideas and BACK THE FUCK OFF MINE.

That is all.
-L.A.

(P.S.: You heifers KNOW who you are. And I'll be watching. VERY, VERY CLOSELY.)

Return to Wonderland.

So.

Wonderland Ch. 14 has made it to Lit.

While internally I am doing jumping jacks and cartwheels and dancing with myself like Billy Idol told me to, I am also kinda nauseated. (O.o)

I haven't written/posted anything for awhile, for many, many reasons that I'm pretty sure no one cares about,  so to have posted something after so long it's kind of like the very first time I ever submitted anything to Lit:
I'm so excited that I can't eat anything, I can't sleep, I'm freaking out that I thought posting was a good idea...in short, I'm something short of a mental breakdown.

Yea, it get's THAT serious.

Anyway, RELIEVE me of my torture by reading the chapter. Vote on it. Comment on the chapter's faults and it's highs. Tell me what you want more of via feedback. My neurotic brain will appreciate it.

Take the roundabout link tour here: links, glorious links!

XO,
L.A.

NEWSNEWSNEWS!!!

Quick update:

I just submitted "Wonderland" Chapter 14: "And the Gargoyle wins." to Literotica!!!

Expect to see it live in a few days!

Thanks to kitten2010 for editing this chapter for me -- you are a godsend!!

You guys let me know what you think, okay?

XO,

L.A.