I keep thinking this morning about time and how quickly it passes. When I first became a mommy everyone around me told me not to blink because I would miss something.
I scoffed, “Yeah right. You’re just sayin that because you’re old.”
Now I’m twenty-eight with two kids that are soon to be eleven and three and a half. I find myself telling one of my cousins who just ad a baby not to blink. Then I shudder inwardly at the revelation that the statement I just made condemned me to being old too. That’s right I Nicole Rae am old, or at least getting there fast with no end in sight.
AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
So I know I’m not truly old. Obviously, I’m not even thirty. But I’m pretty close. I have Princess going into Junior High this fall. The other day she brought home a slip where she got to pick her elective and we both had to sign it. As cliche and old as it makes me sound I still remember the day I brought that same slip home for my parents to sign. I thought I was the coolest thing alive. It felt like a right of passage in my life.
Then I of course got to Junior High and realized the reality. I was a little fish in a big pond. I had to learn to swim harder and faster than I ever thought possible in order to keep up. But it was good. Junior High taught me a lot. Of course that always isn’t a good thing but hey, lessons learned are lessons learned.
I worry about Princess going to a bigger school with bigger kids and bigger homework loads. She is a very smart kid but the pressures can be overwhelming for anyone and hope that she is strong enough to not succumb to them. I have every confidence in her though. Sure there will be bumps along the way but that is to be expected when embarking on any new adventure.
Peanut will be starting Pre-School in the fall. My youngest baby is going to school. I am somewhat sad to see this milestone reached so early but am excited for her. Everyday she watches Princess go to school and wonders why she doesn’t get to go. Soon though, she will be getting on a school bus and headed to her new classroom and she can’t wait. Even as I write this she is standing at the coffee table practicing writing her name and playing with a book she was given at her school intake appointment.
Did I mention that in the fall I will have four days a week of me time??? A tiny part of me can’t figure out what I am going to do with myself. The bigger more rational part of me says…
HALLELUJAH!!!
Like most moms I don’t get very many days off. Being a single parent I don’t have a spouse to share the joys and pit falls of parenting with. It is all on my shoulders and boy are my arms tired. Sorry bad joke lol.
I am eager to have a few hours a day with utter silence. No TV, No booming stereos, no fighting, no crying, no tantrums, no mommy can I’s… NOTHING. Just me and me alone to relax. It will be nice to be able to clean up and not have the entire task ruined when one of them comes behind me. It will be nice to be able to put my full concentration into writing. Hell, I will be able to nap all by myself if I want to. I will be able to get errands done without another million mommy can I’s.
I totally adore my girls and wouldn’t change a single hair on their head. I love spending time with them and that is a fact. But I am also looking forward to the much deserved, long awaited for me time.
Please show your support and “Like” my Facebook Page. It’s fairly new and doesn’t have a lot of supporters yet. It will only take a second and you’d be helping spread the word about an emerging author. Don’t forget Clandestine comes out this summer so I need all the help I can get. To visit and like the my author Facebook Page please click HERE
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Walking Into Editing Blindly (Pun Intended)
I love to write. It is my honest to God passion in life. It is the one outlet in life that I have and can call my own. It is no one else’s but mine and no one can take it away from me. Well technically, if my computer breaks or gets stolen it could be taken from me but that’s beside the point.
Now don’t get me wrong, I of course have my girls, my dog, my house and my health. When I say it’s the only thing I have to call my own I mean outside of home life. It’s something I can get lost in even if only for a little while. It’s more than just a hobby for me. It’s my dream. Even if God forbid not one copy of my book ever sells, at least I know I did it. I created something that I poured my heart, my soul and my time into and put it out there for the whole world to see.
For the most part I can write about anything. The hardest part for me though is the editing. I never used to mind editing and still don’t for the most part. But since I have lost my sight it has gotten so much more cumbersome.
The fun aspect of editing that has always been for me is content editing. You know when you move into a new house and you get to unpack the boxes and decide where everything is going to go? That’s how I feel when I do content editing. It can be a totally enjoyable experience to rework sentences and add things you had forgot about. It’s cool to be able to dig in and develop characters and really put yourself into their head and see how they tick.
The great part about getting into their head is that what’s inside it is whatever you want. You are the mastermind. It’s up to you how a person or a scene is formed. It is puddy in your capable hands. However you decide to shape it is all on you.
Okay, so now that the fluffy side of editing is taken care of it’s down to the nitty gritty stuff. Now you have to check and see that all your paragraphs are indented properly, commas are where they should be and you didn’t run any words together as one in your haste of finishing the story.
Seems fairly easy right? WRONG! At least when you’re blind it’s wrong anyway.
Sometimes the all mighty spell checker doesn’t pick things up. For instance if you spelled the word “right” but you meant to say “Write”, it might not be picked up.
When you can see, this isn’t a problem because you can give it a once or twice over and say to yourself… “Hey, that isn’t supposed to be like that”. When you are blind, you hear the voice of your computer say the word “right” and assume it is the right spelling. It doesn’t sound any different if something is spelled wrong or not. If you don’t have someone to check your work for you then the task becomes quite tedious. You have to go sentence by sentence, word by word and in some cases even letter by letter to fix problems. That is not a fun or enjoyable process.
Luckily, with Clandestine I have the privilege of working with my beloved Gram. She has been a God send in the editing dilemma. Without her I wouldn’t be as far as I am with the book. She has been amazing at picking up on the natty gritty that makes me want to pull my hair out.
I have a tendency to type pretty quickly when my creative juices are flowing. I get all the words out in a rush of pages before they overwhelm my brain into explosion. There’s nothing wrong with that except for the fact that it’s easy to forget spaces between words or have the problem mentioned about where you type one word but mean another. For whatever reason when you run two words together it isn’t always caught by the spell checker. The reason for this astounds me. The word clearly is spelled wrong. It is two words that have been smushed together that in no language or context make a new word.
Well, that’s not totally true. I am thinking of compiling my own dictionary of words that I have created. Some of them are kinda cool actually. Just saying
Anyway, I am over half way done editing for Clandestine I can hardly wait for its total completion when I can sit back and enjoy my handwork. Well, at least for like five minutes because then it’s on to marketing it and fully jumping into Divinity.
Not to mention the other million and five half finished projects and tid bits that are floating inside my computer waiting to be crafted. I am fully committed to finishing each and every last one of them. Or more accurately, I have to finish them or I will probably be committed to a rubber room. Not that there’s anything wrong with that for those readers who are scanning this post from the comfort of their straight jacket.
But I digress. I really appreciate all of my readers and those of you who have supported me from the beginning when my only publicly viewed writing was on Playing The Blind Card. Oh, and also my family who have been forced to read all my writing since the beginning of time when I first learned what I Haiku was and scribbled my first story down with my super cool metallic ink pens (thanks mom and dad).
Until next time remember…
Write write write and just when you think you can’t write anymore, do some typing. xoxoxoxoxox
Now don’t get me wrong, I of course have my girls, my dog, my house and my health. When I say it’s the only thing I have to call my own I mean outside of home life. It’s something I can get lost in even if only for a little while. It’s more than just a hobby for me. It’s my dream. Even if God forbid not one copy of my book ever sells, at least I know I did it. I created something that I poured my heart, my soul and my time into and put it out there for the whole world to see.
For the most part I can write about anything. The hardest part for me though is the editing. I never used to mind editing and still don’t for the most part. But since I have lost my sight it has gotten so much more cumbersome.
The fun aspect of editing that has always been for me is content editing. You know when you move into a new house and you get to unpack the boxes and decide where everything is going to go? That’s how I feel when I do content editing. It can be a totally enjoyable experience to rework sentences and add things you had forgot about. It’s cool to be able to dig in and develop characters and really put yourself into their head and see how they tick.
The great part about getting into their head is that what’s inside it is whatever you want. You are the mastermind. It’s up to you how a person or a scene is formed. It is puddy in your capable hands. However you decide to shape it is all on you.
Okay, so now that the fluffy side of editing is taken care of it’s down to the nitty gritty stuff. Now you have to check and see that all your paragraphs are indented properly, commas are where they should be and you didn’t run any words together as one in your haste of finishing the story.
Seems fairly easy right? WRONG! At least when you’re blind it’s wrong anyway.
Sometimes the all mighty spell checker doesn’t pick things up. For instance if you spelled the word “right” but you meant to say “Write”, it might not be picked up.
When you can see, this isn’t a problem because you can give it a once or twice over and say to yourself… “Hey, that isn’t supposed to be like that”. When you are blind, you hear the voice of your computer say the word “right” and assume it is the right spelling. It doesn’t sound any different if something is spelled wrong or not. If you don’t have someone to check your work for you then the task becomes quite tedious. You have to go sentence by sentence, word by word and in some cases even letter by letter to fix problems. That is not a fun or enjoyable process.
Luckily, with Clandestine I have the privilege of working with my beloved Gram. She has been a God send in the editing dilemma. Without her I wouldn’t be as far as I am with the book. She has been amazing at picking up on the natty gritty that makes me want to pull my hair out.
I have a tendency to type pretty quickly when my creative juices are flowing. I get all the words out in a rush of pages before they overwhelm my brain into explosion. There’s nothing wrong with that except for the fact that it’s easy to forget spaces between words or have the problem mentioned about where you type one word but mean another. For whatever reason when you run two words together it isn’t always caught by the spell checker. The reason for this astounds me. The word clearly is spelled wrong. It is two words that have been smushed together that in no language or context make a new word.
Well, that’s not totally true. I am thinking of compiling my own dictionary of words that I have created. Some of them are kinda cool actually. Just saying
Anyway, I am over half way done editing for Clandestine I can hardly wait for its total completion when I can sit back and enjoy my handwork. Well, at least for like five minutes because then it’s on to marketing it and fully jumping into Divinity.
Not to mention the other million and five half finished projects and tid bits that are floating inside my computer waiting to be crafted. I am fully committed to finishing each and every last one of them. Or more accurately, I have to finish them or I will probably be committed to a rubber room. Not that there’s anything wrong with that for those readers who are scanning this post from the comfort of their straight jacket.
But I digress. I really appreciate all of my readers and those of you who have supported me from the beginning when my only publicly viewed writing was on Playing The Blind Card. Oh, and also my family who have been forced to read all my writing since the beginning of time when I first learned what I Haiku was and scribbled my first story down with my super cool metallic ink pens (thanks mom and dad).
Until next time remember…
Write write write and just when you think you can’t write anymore, do some typing. xoxoxoxoxox
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Birthday Cake Revelations
Sometimes I wonder why adults don’t look more to kids for advice. Their simplicity and innocent little natures can be quite insightful at times. Maybe if we took a more simplistic approach in certain matters the world wouldn’t be so corrupt.
The old saying that “kids say the darndest things” is so incredibly true. In one phrase a child can solve a problem, calm you down and make you take a step back and reevaluate a situation.
In my household that is common place. My three year old Peanut always makes me stop and have a “huh moment”. I find myself constantly asking did she really just say that?
Last night was no different. Princess, Peanut and I were hanging out watching American Idol. That is my Princess’s favorite show and has been since she was like three or four. I was working on edits for Clandestine and trying to decide who I thought should be kicked off this week.
Peanut came up to me like usual toting a delectable treat for me to pretend eat. This time it was on a coaster. The food was still of course a Lego but this time it was my birthday cake. Of course my birthday isn’t until September but I was still completely appreciative.
I started to pick up the Lego confection when she stopped me and said…
“Mommy, you gotta blow da candles out.”
I said, “Oh I am so sorry. What was I thinking?” I then proceeded to suck in a deep breath to blow out the candles on my yummy pretend cake.
Peanut stopped me again. “Mommy you gotta make a whish.”
I smiled and apologized again. I closed my eyes real tight and pretended like I was thinking of the perfect wish.
“Mommy, tell me your wish,” chortles Peanut.
“I don’t know peanut, what do you think I should wish for?” I asked her.
She got really excited and said the following. “Say what I say…”
*Keep in mind that I’m repeating her after each sentence.*
Peanut continued. “When I’m sixteen… I wanna drive a car… so fix my eyes…”
I couldn’t even repeat the last part when she said that. I never would have realized that my three year old would have enough insight to know that driving would be a wish for me but that I would need my eyes fixed in order to do so. I must admit that tears swelled my eyes and I laughed a laugh that was happiness mixed with sadness.
I love my two daughters so much and truly don’t know what I would do without them. They remind me every day that life is worth living. Without them I wouldn’t be me. They are honest to God Blessings. They drive me insane and I’ll probably go prematurely grey but they are mine and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The old saying that “kids say the darndest things” is so incredibly true. In one phrase a child can solve a problem, calm you down and make you take a step back and reevaluate a situation.
In my household that is common place. My three year old Peanut always makes me stop and have a “huh moment”. I find myself constantly asking did she really just say that?
Last night was no different. Princess, Peanut and I were hanging out watching American Idol. That is my Princess’s favorite show and has been since she was like three or four. I was working on edits for Clandestine and trying to decide who I thought should be kicked off this week.
Peanut came up to me like usual toting a delectable treat for me to pretend eat. This time it was on a coaster. The food was still of course a Lego but this time it was my birthday cake. Of course my birthday isn’t until September but I was still completely appreciative.
I started to pick up the Lego confection when she stopped me and said…
“Mommy, you gotta blow da candles out.”
I said, “Oh I am so sorry. What was I thinking?” I then proceeded to suck in a deep breath to blow out the candles on my yummy pretend cake.
Peanut stopped me again. “Mommy you gotta make a whish.”
I smiled and apologized again. I closed my eyes real tight and pretended like I was thinking of the perfect wish.
“Mommy, tell me your wish,” chortles Peanut.
“I don’t know peanut, what do you think I should wish for?” I asked her.
She got really excited and said the following. “Say what I say…”
*Keep in mind that I’m repeating her after each sentence.*
Peanut continued. “When I’m sixteen… I wanna drive a car… so fix my eyes…”
I couldn’t even repeat the last part when she said that. I never would have realized that my three year old would have enough insight to know that driving would be a wish for me but that I would need my eyes fixed in order to do so. I must admit that tears swelled my eyes and I laughed a laugh that was happiness mixed with sadness.
I love my two daughters so much and truly don’t know what I would do without them. They remind me every day that life is worth living. Without them I wouldn’t be me. They are honest to God Blessings. They drive me insane and I’ll probably go prematurely grey but they are mine and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Furthering Site Accessibility Furthers Your Reach
I have discovered the coolest feature that can be added to a blog. Thanks to the site Odiogo bloggers can now make their blogs more fully interactive and accessible for all readers. It makes every blog post you write or static page you create an audio file that can be listened to. The service is free and easy to incorporate into your site.
I found it via another blog on blindness. It is called Beautifully Blind It is ran by a creative and insightful woman named Robin. The only thing I had to do to sign up for the awesome service was enter my site address and Email address. After that it prompts you to implement an Odiogo widget to your site to finalize the set up. That process took just a few minutes. Once all that was done check your site!
Depending on the amount of content on your site, it might not be completely done. But chances are you will be able to at least see that some of the audio files for your blog posts are done.
Sure it is a compute rated voice reading my words to the world. But, it is a voice that in my opinion is much better than the voice of JAWS. I think readers will like this option very much.
The other cool aspect is that people will have the ability to subscribe to the audio files. HA how cool is that? Now not only you are a blogger but you are a podcaster too! Once they subscribe they can have access to your blog posts off the computer. For instance, if a person subscribes to your podcast via ITunes, every time they sink their device to the computer your latest masterpieces will be available to them.
This means your readers will have yet another way to enjoy your words on the go. Thus, furthering your message to the world.
I am so excited to have found this feature and hope that my readers will love it as much as I do.
To subscribe to my podcast simply look under the heading “Subscribe to My Podcast” and follow the link. It will take you to the page that will allow you to do so. If you run a blog and are interested in the service you can check it out at Odiogo
I found it via another blog on blindness. It is called Beautifully Blind It is ran by a creative and insightful woman named Robin. The only thing I had to do to sign up for the awesome service was enter my site address and Email address. After that it prompts you to implement an Odiogo widget to your site to finalize the set up. That process took just a few minutes. Once all that was done check your site!
Depending on the amount of content on your site, it might not be completely done. But chances are you will be able to at least see that some of the audio files for your blog posts are done.
Sure it is a compute rated voice reading my words to the world. But, it is a voice that in my opinion is much better than the voice of JAWS. I think readers will like this option very much.
The other cool aspect is that people will have the ability to subscribe to the audio files. HA how cool is that? Now not only you are a blogger but you are a podcaster too! Once they subscribe they can have access to your blog posts off the computer. For instance, if a person subscribes to your podcast via ITunes, every time they sink their device to the computer your latest masterpieces will be available to them.
This means your readers will have yet another way to enjoy your words on the go. Thus, furthering your message to the world.
I am so excited to have found this feature and hope that my readers will love it as much as I do.
To subscribe to my podcast simply look under the heading “Subscribe to My Podcast” and follow the link. It will take you to the page that will allow you to do so. If you run a blog and are interested in the service you can check it out at Odiogo
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Enter To Win A $15 Gift Card!!!
I have never done a contest before so I hope everyone will bear with me on this one. I’m a contest virgin and will do the best I can I promise.
So, my debut novel Clandestine will be coming out this summer as some of you may already know. I have been doing everything humanly possible to get the word out and gain interest for the series. I see that a lot of fellow authors on Twitter host contests on their blogs. I’ve decide to take the plunge and join the fun.
So what is the contest you might ask? It’s simple actually. Since I don’t have a copy of my book yet to offer as a prize I’ll go with the next best thing. MONEY! Well, a gift card but that’s still like free money right? The winner of the contest will be drawn at random and given the choice of several different gift cards equaling $15.
All you have to do to qualify is sign up to follow this blog. Yep that’s right and it will just take a minute of your time. Follow the few easy steps to become an official follower of Nicole Rae’s Blog and you’re in.
The winner will be drawn on May 25th. You have until seven O’clock pm pacific time to enter.
The winner will be announced on May 26th on this site. I will also post the results on Twitter. The winning party has two days to claim their prize or a new winner will be drawn and given the gift card by US mail.
This contest will ONLY be for US participants. If you are a fan from somewhere outside of the US I am super sorry. There will be more contests in the future that will be open to everyone. So keep checking back for your chance to win.
By the way: you must be at least thirteen years of age to enter this contest. If you are a minor I do ask that you ask your parents permission before entering. They might not like you giving out your address to strangers even if you would be receiving a gift card.
What are your gift card options? The following is the list of stores you have to choose from. Remember you may only have one gift card so choose carefully.
The stores are: ITunes, Wal Mart, Target, Fred Meyer, Safeway, Pet Co, Bed Bath & Beyond, Lowes, JC Penny, Sears, Macy’s, and Starbucks
Remember you only have until May 25th to enter. So take a sec and sign up to be a follower of this blog and enter to win a gift card from one of the stores listed above. Don’t worry, if you’re already a follower of the blog then your golden. It counts as an entry. You’re just one step ahead of the game. IMPORTANT: If you were a follower of Nicole Rae’s Blog before this contest was announced please leave a comment on this post to confirm that you would like to participate. If you do not leave a comment you will forfeit your entry. This is because I don’t want to put someone’s name in the drawing that does not wish to participate. That would make things less convenient because that would mean a new name would have to be drawn and more time the winner has to wait. Thanks for your understanding.
WANT TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES????????
All you have to do to increase your chances of winning is sign up to be a follower of my other blog Playing The Blind Card. If you do, you will have your name in the drawing twice. It won’t take long and it will double your odds. You can find Playing The Blind Card at http://www.playingtheblindcard.blogspot.com or, you can use the direct link that is listed on this site. People who are only members of Playing The Blind Card must be members of Nicole Rae’s Blog in order to qualify.
Be sure to tell your friends and give them the chance to enter too. I hope you all decide to take part in the contest and of course… GOOD LUCK!
So, my debut novel Clandestine will be coming out this summer as some of you may already know. I have been doing everything humanly possible to get the word out and gain interest for the series. I see that a lot of fellow authors on Twitter host contests on their blogs. I’ve decide to take the plunge and join the fun.
So what is the contest you might ask? It’s simple actually. Since I don’t have a copy of my book yet to offer as a prize I’ll go with the next best thing. MONEY! Well, a gift card but that’s still like free money right? The winner of the contest will be drawn at random and given the choice of several different gift cards equaling $15.
All you have to do to qualify is sign up to follow this blog. Yep that’s right and it will just take a minute of your time. Follow the few easy steps to become an official follower of Nicole Rae’s Blog and you’re in.
The winner will be drawn on May 25th. You have until seven O’clock pm pacific time to enter.
The winner will be announced on May 26th on this site. I will also post the results on Twitter. The winning party has two days to claim their prize or a new winner will be drawn and given the gift card by US mail.
This contest will ONLY be for US participants. If you are a fan from somewhere outside of the US I am super sorry. There will be more contests in the future that will be open to everyone. So keep checking back for your chance to win.
By the way: you must be at least thirteen years of age to enter this contest. If you are a minor I do ask that you ask your parents permission before entering. They might not like you giving out your address to strangers even if you would be receiving a gift card.
What are your gift card options? The following is the list of stores you have to choose from. Remember you may only have one gift card so choose carefully.
The stores are: ITunes, Wal Mart, Target, Fred Meyer, Safeway, Pet Co, Bed Bath & Beyond, Lowes, JC Penny, Sears, Macy’s, and Starbucks
Remember you only have until May 25th to enter. So take a sec and sign up to be a follower of this blog and enter to win a gift card from one of the stores listed above. Don’t worry, if you’re already a follower of the blog then your golden. It counts as an entry. You’re just one step ahead of the game. IMPORTANT: If you were a follower of Nicole Rae’s Blog before this contest was announced please leave a comment on this post to confirm that you would like to participate. If you do not leave a comment you will forfeit your entry. This is because I don’t want to put someone’s name in the drawing that does not wish to participate. That would make things less convenient because that would mean a new name would have to be drawn and more time the winner has to wait. Thanks for your understanding.
WANT TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES????????
All you have to do to increase your chances of winning is sign up to be a follower of my other blog Playing The Blind Card. If you do, you will have your name in the drawing twice. It won’t take long and it will double your odds. You can find Playing The Blind Card at http://www.playingtheblindcard.blogspot.com or, you can use the direct link that is listed on this site. People who are only members of Playing The Blind Card must be members of Nicole Rae’s Blog in order to qualify.
Be sure to tell your friends and give them the chance to enter too. I hope you all decide to take part in the contest and of course… GOOD LUCK!
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