So who’s this amazingly awesome mentor that is awesome? None other than GWEN FREAKING HAYES!!!!!! What’s even cooler? She has her own mugs. This. Rocks. My. Socks.

Not a long post because I’ve got some writing to do on my contemp YA before I’m torn apart and glued back together.

Wish me luck!

My brain may be close to dead, but I’m not done with BLUR yet. There’s still about 10-15K more to the story that I need to add…and then I can take out my sharpest knife to slice away the fat and add the seasoning.

We’re supposed to get snow here today. And then on Friday. And then on Saturday. Hubs told me that the Emergency Operations Service is calling for 24-40 inches of snow during the Fri-Sat storm. Uh, w-what? We had 26 inches in December and I thought that was quite ridiculous. I’m not even sure I can picture 40 inches (and it’s a good thing this is a G-rated site otherwise this vast amount would take on a whole nother context). Needless to say, lots of snow means: Lots of tea, lots of Baby Girl kisses, and lots of writing. I’m pretty optimistic I’ll be done with the first draft by the end of the weekend.

Stay tuned to see whether I’m a woman of my word or a woman of great delusions. It’s a toss up.

That’s okay. I’m not bitter. Why, you ask? Because I have a brand new shiny muse! In fact, multiple muses with a whole lot of hopping and shagging going on. I find that I’m getting hit with inspiration almost every day. And sometimes in the strangest places.

Here is a list of the thirteen things that have randomly inspired me over the past week…

1. Craigslist ad – if you follow me on Twitter, then you know I got a brilliant light bulb moment from spying an ad for a drag queen singing telegram. You’ll have to stay tuned to find out what the plot bunnies do with this one.
2. Fairy tales – more specifically, Beauty and the Beast meets Ugly Duckling. And yes, there’s a bunny furiously thinking up a storm in response to Samhain’s Red Hot Fairy Tales call.
3. Fever Blister/Cold Sore/Lip Funk/Fill-in-the-blank – Eww. Gross. I know. With my daughter’s first birthday party last Saturday, I had a lot of stressful things to think about (30 adults + 12 kids under the age of 10 = Carmex overdose). So yeah, one of those nasty little suckers popped up on my lip and got me thinking…
4. This image – Pictures say a thousand words, eh? How about 350, give or take?
5. Spiderman kazoo– After loading up with various useless—but surprisingly expensive—crap for party goody bags, I was hit with yet another story tickle. Spidey meets Barbarella???
6. Ballet flats – Mine stink. Like odor-eaters-stink. After dusting off a pair from last Fall season, it made me wonder…surely there’s a villain out there whose supernatural powers are based off a serious case of odorous feet. Death by feet funk has a nice ring to it, donchathink?
7. Water goal – In my effort to try and drink more water, another bunny hopped by as I sat and stared at my half-empty Nalgene bottle.
8. Halloween candy – Really Halloween-anything. All those ghosts, goblins, witches, vamps…what’s not to love?
9. Kanye West – Yes, even Kanye “Douchebag of the Year” West can inspire those little plot bunnies who think it would be hilarious if an equally-embarrassing interruption were to happen to the protagonist during an oh-so-important life-changing event.
10. Candy Apples – That bright, glossy, candy-coated apple I saw at the grocery store is the perfect signature shade for a heroine who’s as flirty as she is feisty.
11. Purell – Hand sanitizer inspired one of the quirky characteristics of my heroine in my current plot-storm.
12. Alec Mazo – Dancing With The Stars resident hottie. Just take away all that sequins, glitter, and that leggy wife of his.
13. Gena Showalter – That lady writes faster than anyone I know (not that I actually really know her, unless you count that time or two when I stalked her throughout RWA DC). She inspires me to no end. And her books kick ass.

So there you have it. What inspired you this week?