• Salsa Rueda Club of Richmond: So, we’re following up our dance presentation at the Que Pasa Festival with being the opening entertainment at tomorrow’s baseball game! (Richmond is home to the minor league team the Flying Squirrels) And, instead of 3 groups in 30 minutes we’ll be getting one hour. We’ll be performing from 5pm to 6pm as people purchase their tickets and find their seats. We precede the national anthem, so it should be a good crowd. I’m a nervous kind of excited right now but looking forward to it all the same.
  Next week’s 7BF will have a recap of the event.
  Find more details at: Salsa Rueda Club of Richmond and Salsa Guy Richmond
• What I’m “reading” this week: I enjoyed Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson so much I read his sequel Firefight and now I’m starting Calamity. Where Steelheart posed questions about power and what it does to us, Firefight is about trust and overcoming fear. The characters are wonderful and well drawn with the story told in the first person. Needless to say, if I’m gobbling these books up like colorful hippos eating marbles, I find the stories extremely enjoyable.
• My favorite dream interpretation this week:
  Telephone:
  1. Telephone calls from a specific person, living or dead, implies a telepathic message from that person. If the person is living, the dreamer should hear from him or her within a very short time.
  2. If the dreamer is making a phone call, she wants to tell someone something but is holding back out of fear.
  3. A telephone that is not being used indicates that the dreamer is holding back from making a contact that needs to be made.
  Astrological parallel: Mercury/Uranus combinations.
  Tarot parallel: The suit of wands.
• My favorite Abraham quote this week:
  “When you manage to stay connected to your Energy stream, you always win. And you know what, somebody else doesn’t have to lose for you to win. There is always enough.” —Abraham
  To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php
• My favorite writing prompt this week:
  “Working with shadow was difficult. It was slippery, and my hands always came away damp.”
• My favorite writing quote this week:
  “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” –Louis L’Amour
• My Favorite from the inter-webs: Have you ever heard a quote and wondered where it came from? Who said it first? Well, this wonderful website has those answers and by the look of things, if you have a quote that they haven’t covered, they may do the research and trace its origins for you. Really interesting stuff here. Prepare to lose yourself for a while.
  Check it out at: http://quoteinvestigator.com/

 

• Que Pasa Festival 2017: Que Pasa was a blast! Here are a couple of pics of our Salsa Rueda dance group. By the way, ladies often outnumber the gents, so for our demonstration I danced the leader role. As one of the ladies in our group says, “Denise, you ‘da man!”
  Find more details at: Salsa Rueda Club of Richmond and Salsa Guy Richmond
   
• What I’m “reading” this week: I just finished the audio book version of Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. It’s the first in a series followed by Firefight and Calamity. It’s a story about an ordinary boy named David who has grown up in a world were super heroes (called Epics) are real. But, these men with extraordinary powers are not heroes, they are tyrants and dictators who look upon the rest of humanity as their minions and subjects. In presents an interesting question, does absolute power corrupt absolutely? And, if so, is it possible to find a super-human who is good and wants to fight for freedom and equality? This book has a fun side with our hero appreciating good metaphors because he sucks at them and humorously plausible Epic names like ComFlux, Mitosis, Limelight and Aftershock.
• Bullet Journal: I’m biting the bullet and starting a bullet journal, BuJo to the obsessed. My reason for taking this on? I have way too many notebooks. I currently have one for each of my interests: general writing, Dragon World, dreams/inspirations, random thoughts/lists/to-do, and a calendar. I went looking for a way to put everything in one place and still have it organized and I found the Bullet Journal by Ryder Carroll. All you need is a notebook and a pen and you can create everything that you need. Of course, there are those who add color and pictures, brush lettering, etc. The beauty is, you can be as plain or as fancy as you want.
• My favorite Abraham quote this week:
  “You cannot get sick enough to help sick people get better. You cannot get poor enough to help poor people thrive. It is only in your thriving that you have anything to offer anyone. If you’re wanting to be of an advantage to others, be as tapped in, turned in, turned on as you can possibly be.” —Abraham
  To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php
• My favorite writing prompt this week:
  “A child is born with an imagination so strong, it leaks into reality.”
• My favorite writing quote this week:
  “I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things that I’m afraid of.” –Joss Wheden
• My Favorite from the inter-webs: My week has been chock-full or BuJo research. And even though I’m an artistic person, I’m also very practical. I want a BuJo that will help me be more productive with my writing, my blog and my art. Finding help with creating BuJo spreads that are professionally focused is a challenge. But, then enters ProJounaler, a page dedicated to people who want to track projects without getting too caught up in appearances. Although you can make attractive and colorful spreads, it’s the content that is the focus here, so it’s a ProJo.
  Check it out at: https://projournalers.org/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/projournalers/

 

• Que Pasa Festival 2017: Right here in Richmond, Virginia tomorrow (May 6), I’ll be down at the Canal Walk with my Salsa Rueda group and my Argentine Tango friends. We’ll be performing twice. Once at 3:30 p.m. on the Vista Stage (by the canal) and again at 5:30 p.m. on the Virginia Street Stage. It looks like it’s going to be a perfect day for celebrating Cinco de Mayo! If you’re in the Richmond area, please check it out!
  Find more details at: http://www.vahcc.com/iquestque-pasa-festival.html
• My favorite song(s) this week: So, I’m a Star Wars fan (and Star Trek, and SciFi in general). Thursday, May 4 is Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth be with you…”) The most wonderful thing came across the airwaves from Palette-Swap Ninja – a mash-up of Star Wars and the Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts club Band. And, I have to say it is wonderful, fabulously funny, and obviously done with the love and reverence of true fans. If you haven’t heard it yet, please check it out on you tube. The videos are very well done and hilarious.
  Check them out at: https://www.youtube.com
• Writing Update: I’m very close to posting my short story, Breathing Underwater! It’s a story about at woman named Nicole who is looking for inspiration to breathe new life into her art. She revisits her childhood haunts and finds much more than she expected.
• My favorite Abraham quote this week:
  “There isn’t anything anybody wants that is for any other reason than that they think they would feel better in having it.” —Abraham
  To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php
• My favorite writing prompt this week:
  “It’s all fun and games, until you’re in a high-speed chase with three police cars on your ass, one of them being driven by your mom.”
• My favorite dream interpretation this week:
  Rain:
  If the rain is a gentle one, and especially if rainbows are present, this is a positive symbol, foreshadowing the coming of a peaceful interlude and much happiness.
  If the rain is heavy, this indicates a change in the dreamer’s financial fortunes. Depending on his circumstances, it could be a windfall or a major setback.
  A major thunderstorm with thunder and lightning indicates a sudden and unexpected increase in wealth, possibly through a legacy
  Astrological parallel: Venus
  Tarot parallel: The Wheel of Fortune
• My Favorite from the inter-webs: Do you love words? No, I mean are you a true logophile; passionately, obsessively in love with words? No worries, you don’t have to be. Steve Chrisomalis has enough dedication and zeal to share with the rest of us. This website, called Phrontistery (from the Greek phrontistes ‘thinker’) is a haven and repository for obscure and lost words. Filled with tons of resources, you can find that perfect word to describe the her cloak made of mazarine velvet (rich blue or reddish-blue color) or your villain’s proclivity for killing partridges (perdricide). But, be warned, prepare to spend some time here. If you’re anything like me, once you start looking at the wonderful glossaries of seldom used words, you’ll want to stay a while.
  Check it out at: http://phrontistery.info/index.html

 

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• RavenCon 2017: Heading to Williamsburg, Virginia this weekend to attend RavenCon 12, The Con of Opportunity, an annual writers convention focusing on Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (a la Edgar Alan Poe). It’s filled to the brim with panel discussions on all topics related to writing and geek-dom in general with art and book vendors, cosplay and filking. Fun to be had by all and super affordable. If you can make it, I highly recommend it. Next week I hope to have some photos to share.
  Find more details at: http://www.ravencon.com/
• Dragon World update: The challenge I’m having this week is letting go of the first draft story I’ve already written in order to write a better story. My hope was that I could “shoehorn” much of what I’d already written into a new format, and rewrite only the places where I had plot holes and add a couple more scenes to bring the story together. *insert buzzer noise here* It’s become an “unlearn everything you’ve learned” kind of thing. Starting over is hard…and I’m trying to open my mind, just a bit. :-S
  Thanks to Greg Smith of Agile Writers, story coach extraordinaire (and my boyfriend) for talking me down from the ledge!
  Check him out at: http://agilewriters.com/
• What game I’m playing: I would say “this week” but I’ve been playing this game and will continue to play it for months/years/who knows. It’s called 2048, and if you like number puzzles, it’s totally addictive. The setup is a 4×4 grid that will give you either a 2 or a 4 in a random square. By swiping up/down/left/right you merge matching squares together to get their sums (i.e. 2+2=4, 4+4=8, as so on) until you get to 2048 (1024+1024). There are lots of apps out there for whatever device you have and some even have an “undo” button.
• My favorite Abraham quote this week:
  “You’re picky about the car you drive. You’re picky about what you wear. You’re picky about what you put in your mouth. We want you to be pickier about what you think.” —Abraham
  To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php
• My favorite writing prompt this week:
  “You are a ‘dreambender’ a type of psychic who can change people’s dreams for better or for worse. One night, someone comes to you with an unusual request.”
• My favorite dream interpretation this week:
  Colors Symbolism in Dreams:
  Red: Good news. Passion. Anger. A warning to control your temper. Astrological parallel: Aries
  Blue: Enlightenment. Insight. Relief from worry. Assistance from outside sources. Astrological parallel: Libra
  Green: Peace. Tranquillity. The Earth. Money. A journey. Good news. Astrological parallel: Taurus
  Yellow: Intellect. A problem or puzzle to be solved. Possible setbacks. Gemini. Also: Gold: Leo.
  Pink: Love. Compassion. The attainment of a dream.
  Purple: Spirituality; status in one’s own circle. Increased social life, or the desire for same.
  Orange: Message from a great Master. Metaphysical or spiritual knowledge.
  Brown: Illness. Materialism.
  Black: Unhappiness. A rough road ahead. Something that the dreamer needs to know. In extreme cases, a death – BUT THE DREAMER’S DEATH IS NEVER SHOWN.Astrological parallel: Scorpio
  White: Purity. Success well earned.
  A swirl of color: Great joy, happiness, success. Dreams attained. Luck in love.Astrological parallel: The Sun
• My Favorite from the inter-webs: Have you been avoiding adding diversity (people of color) to your writing out of fear that you’ll offend your readers? I stumbled across this blog searching for help describing my characters beyond their eye color and skin tone. And, it’s a treasure trove! From racial stereotypes to avoid to descriptions of hair and skin tone, it is such an asset. but, what truly won me over it the page “POC Profiles.” Here, a diverse range of ethnicity and sexual orientation speak up about what they don’t like about character portrayals in books/TV/movies and what they would love to see more of. The latter got my creative juices flowing on different and new story ideas.
  Check it out at: writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/

 

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• New 7-Bullet-Friday graphic: I’m super proud of the new “7-Butter-Flyday” graphic I created on Photoshop. I’ve gone back and updated my last 7BF post with the new graphic and two pics to go with the first bullet.
• Shawsville, VA: The weather was absolutely beautiful for our trip last weekend! Nothing says, “spring” like dogwoods and redbuds in bloom. Here are a couple pics of the town sign, sorry no population listed. But I did look it up on Wikipedia… 1,310 at the 2010 census. 🙂
  
• Dragon World update: The focus this week was on the story arc of the entire series. And, I was surprised at the relief I felt after defining my story. Not just what its about, but how it gets from beginning to end. I’m not down in the weeds yet. These are broad strokes so I know the mechanics of the story. It truly is exciting to have clearer ideas. It hadn’t occurred to me after all these years of writing my first novel that I would feel more inspiration knowing where I’m going, as opposed to waiting until I write myself there to find out. Oh, and buh-bye to writer’s block. If you have a road map, you’re far less likely to get lost.
  Another shout out to Greg Smith of Agile Writers, story coach extraordinaire (and my boyfriend)!
  Check him out at: http://agilewriters.com/
• What I’m reading this week: I am an audio-book addict, using my commute to “read.” I just started The Sleeper by Emily Barr. It’s a thriller about a woman who takes an overnight commuter train from Cornwall to London to escape her boring life and disappointing marriage. One night she vanishes from the train without a trace. I’m a quarter of the way in and I’m hooked.
• My favorite Abraham quote this week:
  “There are as many different worlds as there are perceivers or Beings or individuals. You are not here to create one world where everyone is the same, wanting and getting the same. You are here to be that which you want to be, while you allow all others to be that which they want to be.” —Abraham
  To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php
• My favorite writing prompt this week:
  “I woke up to hear knocking on glass. At first, I thought it was the window, until I heard it come from the mirror again.”
• My Favorite from the inter-webs: Creating my new graphic inspired me to share my favorite site for downloading royalty free stock photos – Pixabay. You can also share your own pictures as public domain. The photos are high-res, and in many cases stunning and inspiring. Sometimes I just browse though them on my lunch hour. They come from all over the world and are completely free. You can make a donation to “buy them a cup of coffee” but it’s completely voluntary and there is no limit to how much you can download. The galaxy image making up my butterfly wings came from Pixabay. In fact, whenever I have a Photoshop project, I start here.
  Check it out at: https://pixabay.com/

I’ve been feeling guilty about neglecting my blog… Today, I received a post from someone that I follow and they are using #7bulletfriday, giving their followers a list of seven things that are going on in their lives. Just random, but positive, things going on. And I thought, “Hey, I can do that!”

So, here we go. The first of (hopefully) many 7-Bullet-Fridays.

• This week, my sweet boyfriend and I celebrated our two-year, “I love you” anniversary. We had dinner at Flemming’s Steakhouse, I received a lovely bouquet of roses now gracing my desk and we have a new set of matching silver rings that my guy hammered with no adult supervision.

• We’re traveling to Shawsville, VA (don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it) this weekend to visit my parents and celebrate my mom’s birthday. Happy birthday Mom!
• My Dragon World five-novel series is getting a new stream of creative energy as I begin story-boarding Book 1 – Tree Dragon. I finished the first draft last year, pantser style, but it feels like its missing something. So, I’m going back to the drawing board. And, to help me figure things out is Greg Smith of Agile Writers, story coach extraordinaire (and my boyfriend)!
  Check him out at: http://agilewriters.com/
• I just finished another short story called Mirror World. My writing group critiqued it last night and I can’t wait to get it revised and posted. Also on the short story topic, I am working on revisions to two more shorts called Breathing Underwater and Honey/Sheahanna/Chickery (a three perspectives story).
• My favorite Abraham quote this week:
  We would like to leave you with this very clear knowing that we hold: You are just a few laughs away from letting a whole lot of good stuff in. You are just a few kisses away from letting a whole lot of good stuff in. You are just a little bit of relief away from letting a whole lot of good stuff in. Abraham
  To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, and to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php
• I’m always looking for inspiration and constantly browsing writing websites and Pinterest for story prompts and ideas. Here’s one that gets my creative juices flowing, how about you?
  “Every night you visit me. Sometimes in dreams. Sometimes in nightmares.”
• Lastly, I want to share this wonderful resource for names and their meanings. What I especially like about this site is, not only can you look up a name to get its meaning, variants and diminutives but you can also search for names by their meaning. Like a reverse phone lookup, if you have a character who is beautiful, joyful, strong or strange, unlucky, sorrowful, etc. you can find all the names that share those meanings. You can search first, last, name meaning and two numerology aspects, soul urge and expression numbers. And, you can refine by boy names, girl names and unisex names. Pretty cool…it’s become one of my go-to places when I’m developing a new character. http://www.meaning-of-names.com/search/

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