Shanna Wynne

Just a quick dip in. I know it’s been forever since I last posted. (Sorry. Life started getting busy! Both kids in school, helping the hubby with his college homework, cleaning house, the usual stuff… Takes up a lot of time!) But life is looking to settle down once more. We’re moving… to Texas. Yup. You heard right. Texas.

The Lone Star State

I would’ve blogged sooner, but this last month of preparing, cleaning, packing, etc. has been a real doozy. The final transition is made this weekend. Soon after I will have my own personal office (which means lots of quiet time for writing!! hooray for that!!) and lots of distraction-less time. (Moving to a new place sorta does that.)

Anyway, the blog will be continued soon enough. With lots of new goodies in store!

Have a great Valentine’s Day, y’all! I’m a-gonna be moving that day, but it’s all good here.

Okay, maybe I’m just vain… but I found re-reading this post so funny, I decided to bump it to the front page.  So, here we go again!

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Before you ask me what the hell I mean, I will elaborate.

I was building my “Project Playlist” at that magnificent site you can find here. Which is actually rather addictive. I was looking for a song I wanted to hear but didn’t already have on my computer and ended up searching for and adding songs to my playlist for nearly five hours. Part of the time was, of course, spent trying out links and making sure the song was intact, but all that side, it was a pleasurable experience.

I started out looking for a couple songs and then music I listen to now but don’t have to eventually adding a lot of music that I used to listen to in high school, e.g. a lot of hip-hop. I’d forgotten how much I use to enjoy DMX, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, etc. Listening to this music was like being sixteen again. I was overwhelmed with memories of driving around in my piece of crap hand-me-down 1992 Ford Tempo with the nice stereo my mom thankfully left in it blazing away.

Geez, what it was to be a teenager. The picture below is me in Dec. 2001, just a short 3 months after I turned 17.

I really miss that body. I was a slim size 6.

I haven’t dreamed of being a size 6 since I had my first kid.

The hardest part is knowing that it was only 6 years ago!

So, since I’m in a reminiscing mood, let’s discuss me at 16-17.

Let’s see.

I was your average teenager, I suppose. Top of my class in academics, part of the fencing team. Also a regular member on the Academic/Quiz Bowl team. I spent my monthly allowance on office supplies (and if you aren’t watching me, I still do!).

Okay, maybe not your average teenager.

I spent a lot of time in my bedroom writing insanely bad poetry and the occasional short story. Which were, obviously, much better. I very rarely went out with friends. I had a 10.30pm curfew. Really. I wasn’t really interested in going out anyway. What do 16 year olds do for fun anyway? Go to the skate-a-rena? See a movie ten times? (Which, by the way, I did have several friends take me multiple times to Titanic. If anyone mentions watching that movie I feel like being sick.) Play putt-putt? Not saying there weren’t the occasional “high schooler” parties I got to attend.

Well, just that one time when my friend’s older sister held a Halloween party where someone spiked the Sprite so me and my friends ended up a little tipsy. And an old, dear friend of mine locked herself in the bathroom because she thought she was drunk. And that one high school guy kept cornering me–I remember hoping that I was finally about to get my first real kiss. But nope. *sigh* That didn’t come for another year. Course, those events were when I was 15, so are those even appropriate in a blog about my 16-17 years?

Eh, who cares. It’s my blog. And it’s 2am. I can write what I want.

I must admit though, I do enjoy being an adult (over 21) more than being a teenager–even if I am twice the size I used to be. At least now I can go to the real club, dance and drink all I want. (If someone else is driving–I am a responsible drinking adult.)

Sitting here, remembering all those crazy parties the said friend above used to hold. The one who locked herself in the bathroom, not the one with the older sister. I remember playing “truth or dare” maybe two, three hundred times over those years.

Although there was one big problem with that. I very rarely got dared to do anything–everyone always skipped me. Maybe they didn’t think I was interested? Probably. I was the “goody-two-shoes” of the group. Not that I nay-say’d them, but I did stand aloof–more an observer than a participant.

But I was told, after high school ended, that the reason I wasn’t… hmm.. how to say?…. admired as much as my girlfriends was because I was intimidating.

Which I found shocking.

Really, I did.

I mean, I’m 4′10″ tall. Or should I say short? I wasn’t a big, blocky kind of girl. (As evidenced above–even now I’m not.) I couldn’t begin to understand what could be intimidating about me. The hobbit of the group!

I was also told that it was the force of my personality–my intellect. Apparentally I’m overwhelming.

That I can understand.

I have irregular mood swings. I’m pretty smart. And I’m an alpha. I dominate most things. Not consciously, I just do. My sister absolutely refused to let me hang out with her and her friends because of that. Still does. I’m charismatic, with an engaging, magnetic personality.

However, I tend to believe I’m one of those people you either love or hate.

But I’ve got insider information that at a lot of those parties, there were guys who liked me and would’ve loved to play “dare” with me. Except they were terrified of me!

How about that?

That’s enough of memory lane. Did you enjoy the insights? Did you get any new knowledge about me? Learn anything?

I sure hope so. Otherwise I just posted an old photo of me for my vanity. And I hate that idea!

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And just for comparison, let’s add in a very recent picture of me now.

Hmmm….. Alright, so maybe I am just a *little* vain!

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Keep an eye out for Part 2 of my series, The Writer’s Online Tool Box. Coming soon!

Yeah, it’s pretty darned late at night. And yes, I have written blogs this late at night before. No biggie.

I’m still up, despite an early morning wake up call, because I was working on a flash fiction (which is 1000 words or less) for a friendly contest among writers. . . . that ended up turning into an over 4000 word short story.

Yes. It is awesome, I know.

Now, with a head full of accomplishment (and if I were to be honest, a bit of narcissism, but who said I was being honest?), I find myself lacking in the tired and overflowing with the “what can I write next?”

Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue. If this were any other night of the summer, this would have ZERO bearing on my inability to sleep. I could stay up until I did get tired and then sleep in some and be A-OK.

Except I need to get the car in the morning so I can haul the laundry to my Mom’s house to wash it (haven’t gotten a washer/dryer for the new digs yet) and Mom has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, and I’m not letting Mom drive my stepdad’s Jeep around in 100 plus degree weather without an A/C to keep her brain from imploding.

So. Hence my dilemma.

Since I can’t really stay up to do anymore writing (I’ve already edited the finished story a bit and will look for a place to submit it tomorrow) I figured I’d run by here, say a few words and then head on to bed.

Here it is.

A FEW WORDS.

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See? Told you. Just a few words.

Aside from that, I wanted to pass on a link to you all that I find helps me fill the empty moments when no one else is online and you can’t bear the thought of taking another quiz/playing a dumb flash game/staring at Twitter and wondering why you aren’t wittier/etc. anymore.

Check out Ill Will Press. It’s a hilarious site where a guy makes little flash cartoons and comic strips about an angry squirrel named Foamy, his assorted crazy squirrel friends and a goth chick named Germaine.

Just believe me. It is funny.

In fact, I just got done watching a toon that summed up my view on horror movies completely. (But only if you’re listening to the squirrel, not the human.) It’s called “Horror Flick Chicks” and for a quick link, click HERE.

Yes. You should click and watch. If not, you are missing out on the funniness.

(That is a made-up word. I will one day have it copyrighted, for it is mine!)

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So….. yeah. That’s all I’ve got. It’s nearing 3 a.m. I’m finally getting a wee bit tired, which is magnificent. I need some rest. My fingers are worn out.

I’ll leave you with a taste of Ill Will Press. It’s funny.

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Oh, and I will be back tomorrow. Got a blog to write about writing. The craft of said art form, not more of this junk above.

Vampire Skeleton Found! (click to read the actual article)

Looky here! A second blog in March. Maybe I’ll get back into the habit of writing 3 or more a week.

As is, a friend in the Horror Library office on Zoetrope turned me to this article about archaeologists digging up a mass grave in Italy. The grave was a dumping place for people who died of the plague. Along with some other interesting pictures, there was this.

Since people back in the day didn’t understand the decomposition process, they believe a body that had black, viscous fluids dripping from its mouth was a vampire, resting after a night of feeding. Especially when the shroud covering the body was torn around the teeth. It was sign the vampire had been “chewing” on its shroud. They also believed this was how the plague spread. To prevent this, they shoved a rock into the mouth of bodies believed to be that of the Undead.

Interesting, huh? Go ahead and click the picture to read more.

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Right now, on the writing front, I’m working on a new project to help me finish my novel. A story that was supposed to be 5 or 6 thousand words is turning into a novel. The story in my head has grown too big for its britches and needs the space to grow. So, first novel it will be.

Also I’ve got some stories I’m looking for places to sub–as we speak, in another tab.

And I still need to buy my hard copy of Darkened Horizons. There can’t be anything better for a writer’s confidence than holding a hard copy of their work. I can’t wait to put it on my bookshelf so I can point it out to friends and family and say, “See? I have been put in a book!”

I’m still figuring how to set up my “writing zone.” I’m debating on whether or not to really take that spot in the garage or just settle for turning the computer desk in my station, and use the hallway closet for my office stuff. But really, is there enough room on this desk for all my office supplies? No. My habit needs space. So soon enough, when the pictures are on the wall and everything really is put away I’ll have time to set up my office in the garage. Either way, I’m happy.

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Spring Break is coming up. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the boy at home for a week. I’m kind of terrified of summer now.

Just this Sunday, we had a friend and her daughter over for dinner. After we’d eaten and were just chit-chatting, my son stands up–finds the missing new pair of underwear I couldn’t find earlier, still taped into a tube shape, and says, “I’m going to put my underwear on!”

We all laughed a little and I couldn’t help but ask, “Are you wearing underwear now?”

He nodded in the affirmative, turned around and pull down his pants to show us his Scooby Doo undies.

Can you see why I fear the coming week? That boy is crazy!

I wonder who he gets that from….

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I haven’t a clue what else to put here. I’ve got laundry to put away. So technically, it’s not Laundry Day, but a continuation of Laundry Day. Either way, it’s still a dangerous day.