As a writer looking into a genre that I haven't written before, I looked online and found two books that I am using for research. The first book I found and downloaded was 'The Cheater's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance For Publication and Profit' by Morgan Hawke. The second book that I downloaded onto my handy Blackberry (with Mobipocket Reader) was 'Passionate Ink: A Guide to Writing Erotic Romance' by Angela Knight.
By the way, the total cost of the two books was approximately $15 CND. Not much, but enough to hurt on my limited budget. Ah well, you have to spend money to make money...
I have not yet fully read both. But I so far find Ms. Knight's book more my style. Ms. Hawke's is more in your face. I will give a more detailed critique of the books later.
Both started as ebook authors. I know for a fact that Angela Knight has some hardbacks out.
I found out a few things. Erotica and erotic romance (aka EroRom) are not the same thing. EroRom has a happy ending (well, they both have many, but I'm talking about a happily ever after) in which the protagonists end up together or at least romantically connected in a relationship. Erotica is wham, bam, thank you Sam.
I chose erotic romance because I think it's a good fit. I am very open about sex and have no difficulty talking about it. Nowadays I talk about it and don't do it. So that's my entertainment; talking instead of doing!
So after I finish the books I have to get writing. Not that any of you know me well enough to worry about me, but I know it's not as easy as all that.
But we'll see how long it will take.........
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Frugalista Count Up 4!
Slow and steady wins the race. I added 288.00 to my savings today. The grand total now is 638.06! Considering that I have been saving for just under four weeks, I don't think that is such a bad total.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
A Tiny Whinge-fest about the Wii
Okay, I love the Wii. I have a couple of games that provide sufficient torture.
But the voice in the Wii Fit Plaza is starting to drive me crazy! It is like a voice from a Japanese Anime Cartoon. It is sweet, child-like and INCREDIBLY ANNOYING!!!
Every other day it goes 'Oh!'in a suprised voice when I step on the Wii.
I think I mentioned it before, I'm a larger person and trying to get some of it off. I don't have any interest in being svelte, just a lot less curvy. So when I get on and weigh every day, and it tells me 'That's Obese! Dum dum dum!' It gets tiring. D'uh! I was obese yesterday; unless a fat-wasting disease hits me overnight, I'll be obese the next day!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Frugalista Count-up 3!
I had two massage clients tonight. One changed their hour massage to a 90 minute massage. So instead of $110, I made $135.
So the Frugalista count up is now $350.05!
So the Frugalista count up is now $350.05!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Frugalista Count-up 2!
No tithe, but I managed to add $50 of my main wages this week. Total= $215.05 Up, up we go :)
Non-settler going to Settle in Belize...Part III
Post England
Well, here I was, thyroid still slightly wonky and living at my parents house. On top of that, I was seeing a really great guy, we’ll call him SmartBoy, in the months after I decided to leave. We clicked, but the timing was wrong. We had planned to meet in Toronto in a few months. Unfortunately, he decided to date someone else a couple of weeks after I left.
SmartBoy managed to send me a romantic message on Valentines Day. Then the next day emailed me saying that he shouldn’t have sent me that message since he was involved.
Moving back to Canada was weird. I had lived in Manchester for 10 years. It took me about 2 years to get used to living there. I had culture shock again, plus I was living in a small town, living at my parents house, a wee bit heartbroken, plus all the friends I had made as a young adult were over there.
It took me awhile to get used to life here again. I worked at the 7-11 on night shifts, and worked part-time at a Curves to start with. Then I got a job as a coordinator for the Southern Alberta Summer Games.
After the Summer Games, I worked in Calgary (about an 1.5 hour drive from MediumSizedTown). The commute was brutal. I wanted to move to Medicine Hat. There’s a high British population, as there is a military base that trains British Soldiers. It’s called BATUS (British Army Training Unit Suffield). It’s at, surprise, surprise, CFB Suffield.
Medicine Hat was where I was living when I met my ex-husband, aka LBS.
I got a job at a computer firm. I didn’t like the job much, but my social life made up for it. I still had people I knew here, and the night-life was great.
I am not a slag, but I am not a prude. I met men that I had flings with. Besides getting over SmartBoy and a 10 year marriage, I was enjoying my freedom. I was out every weekend and broke every payday. But I was having a blast.
I was flinging with a soldier from Liverpool, when one night right before he left he decided to be an arsehole. I’ll not go into to details, but I was assaulted and my whole world changed in that time.
I had a hard time coping with work after that. I went on EI medical leave, and on EI and my RRSP’s, I went back to school for 2 years to become a Massage Therapist. After the EI ran out, I worked a bar job out at the base. Good wage, crap tips. The hours were great though. 6 p.m.-midnight.
Also, during this time I went to counselling to recover from the assault and other baggage.
I love being a Massage Therapist, and set up my own business after I completed college. I made the mistake of staying in Medicine Hat. It’s a saturated market. Plus, unfortunately, even though I am a great Massage Therapist, people do not always think big girls are great RMT’s. I am strong like a woman named Olga, and can do all types of massage.
That is another reason to get the fat off.
In November of 2007, my brother had a heart attack. It happened to be my birthday. He was without oxygen for a considerable amount of time. We were scared that he would be brain damaged permanently. So I got in the car and drove to Winnipeg to be with him. My parents flew up from their winter home in Palm Springs.
When I arrived, we were told not to expect much. They expected him to be brain damaged for life. But he recovered and was almost 100% within 4 months of the heart attack.
Now, obesity is my problem. Not my brother’s. He had an arrhythmia, and was on some medication he wasn’t supposed to be on and his heart stopped. He had a defibrillator put in and everything seemed fine.
In the late spring of 2008, he had a mini-stroke. He was recovering well when on Aug 24 of 2008 he died (we hope) in his sleep. He was living on his own at this time and did not have the kids with him at the time; we are thankful that the kids didn’t have to see him like that. He was 43. His defibrillator didn’t go off and didn’t save his life.
So, our family has been coming to terms with his death since then. He was a community activist, well loved by everyone, a great dad, and he was a mover and shaker in the provincial government. He had just been made an Assistant Deputy Minister of community initiatives in the department of science, technology, energy and mines in the Manitoba government.
Before my brother had passed, I had saved up for a trip back to the U.K. to visit my friends. Their lives had moved on. It was great seeing them, but it wasn’t home any longer.
Last year, I closed down my Massage Clinic and moved into a two bedroom house (I had a 1 bed flat before that). This way I could treat clients out of my house. I still had the bar job, too. I looked for another job and in April of 2009 I got a clerical job out at the base covering someone’s maternity leave.
I really do sometimes wish that I hadn’t left the U.K., but you can’t go back. You can only go forward. And I am very grateful to have been in Canada. I got to be with him before he passed away. That is worth more than any other regrets.
So now we’re up to speed!! Am I ready to live life to the fullest soon? You bet. Am I ready for a good change in my life? Oooh baby, yes!!
Well, here I was, thyroid still slightly wonky and living at my parents house. On top of that, I was seeing a really great guy, we’ll call him SmartBoy, in the months after I decided to leave. We clicked, but the timing was wrong. We had planned to meet in Toronto in a few months. Unfortunately, he decided to date someone else a couple of weeks after I left.
SmartBoy managed to send me a romantic message on Valentines Day. Then the next day emailed me saying that he shouldn’t have sent me that message since he was involved.
Moving back to Canada was weird. I had lived in Manchester for 10 years. It took me about 2 years to get used to living there. I had culture shock again, plus I was living in a small town, living at my parents house, a wee bit heartbroken, plus all the friends I had made as a young adult were over there.
It took me awhile to get used to life here again. I worked at the 7-11 on night shifts, and worked part-time at a Curves to start with. Then I got a job as a coordinator for the Southern Alberta Summer Games.
After the Summer Games, I worked in Calgary (about an 1.5 hour drive from MediumSizedTown). The commute was brutal. I wanted to move to Medicine Hat. There’s a high British population, as there is a military base that trains British Soldiers. It’s called BATUS (British Army Training Unit Suffield). It’s at, surprise, surprise, CFB Suffield.
Medicine Hat was where I was living when I met my ex-husband, aka LBS.
I got a job at a computer firm. I didn’t like the job much, but my social life made up for it. I still had people I knew here, and the night-life was great.
I am not a slag, but I am not a prude. I met men that I had flings with. Besides getting over SmartBoy and a 10 year marriage, I was enjoying my freedom. I was out every weekend and broke every payday. But I was having a blast.
I was flinging with a soldier from Liverpool, when one night right before he left he decided to be an arsehole. I’ll not go into to details, but I was assaulted and my whole world changed in that time.
I had a hard time coping with work after that. I went on EI medical leave, and on EI and my RRSP’s, I went back to school for 2 years to become a Massage Therapist. After the EI ran out, I worked a bar job out at the base. Good wage, crap tips. The hours were great though. 6 p.m.-midnight.
Also, during this time I went to counselling to recover from the assault and other baggage.
I love being a Massage Therapist, and set up my own business after I completed college. I made the mistake of staying in Medicine Hat. It’s a saturated market. Plus, unfortunately, even though I am a great Massage Therapist, people do not always think big girls are great RMT’s. I am strong like a woman named Olga, and can do all types of massage.
That is another reason to get the fat off.
In November of 2007, my brother had a heart attack. It happened to be my birthday. He was without oxygen for a considerable amount of time. We were scared that he would be brain damaged permanently. So I got in the car and drove to Winnipeg to be with him. My parents flew up from their winter home in Palm Springs.
When I arrived, we were told not to expect much. They expected him to be brain damaged for life. But he recovered and was almost 100% within 4 months of the heart attack.
Now, obesity is my problem. Not my brother’s. He had an arrhythmia, and was on some medication he wasn’t supposed to be on and his heart stopped. He had a defibrillator put in and everything seemed fine.
In the late spring of 2008, he had a mini-stroke. He was recovering well when on Aug 24 of 2008 he died (we hope) in his sleep. He was living on his own at this time and did not have the kids with him at the time; we are thankful that the kids didn’t have to see him like that. He was 43. His defibrillator didn’t go off and didn’t save his life.
So, our family has been coming to terms with his death since then. He was a community activist, well loved by everyone, a great dad, and he was a mover and shaker in the provincial government. He had just been made an Assistant Deputy Minister of community initiatives in the department of science, technology, energy and mines in the Manitoba government.
Before my brother had passed, I had saved up for a trip back to the U.K. to visit my friends. Their lives had moved on. It was great seeing them, but it wasn’t home any longer.
Last year, I closed down my Massage Clinic and moved into a two bedroom house (I had a 1 bed flat before that). This way I could treat clients out of my house. I still had the bar job, too. I looked for another job and in April of 2009 I got a clerical job out at the base covering someone’s maternity leave.
I really do sometimes wish that I hadn’t left the U.K., but you can’t go back. You can only go forward. And I am very grateful to have been in Canada. I got to be with him before he passed away. That is worth more than any other regrets.
So now we’re up to speed!! Am I ready to live life to the fullest soon? You bet. Am I ready for a good change in my life? Oooh baby, yes!!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Fudge, Says Frugalista
Well, getting derailed off the Frugalista express wasn't in my plans. A few things happened in the past few days:
Then I got an inner ear infection. Thanks to universal health care, I only had to pay $40 for the prescription. Which I will get 80% back minus an initial $25 dollar deductible (excess to all you peeps in the UK). So I will get a whopping $7 back :).
So, I won't be tithing my wages when I get them tomorrow, as they will be paying back my credit card for the extra expenses. I will not touch my $165.05 saved so far. Plus I should make $110 this week as I have four massages this week. Unfortunately two are trades. One is a trade with another massage therapist (Yay! I get a massage back next week). The other is my friend and hairdresser. But the other two are paid :)
The third point I have known about since I got the job. I am covering someones maternity leave. But I had assumed that I would have secured another job by now and that hasn't happened. I am peaceful now though. There are now rumours that the woman I replaced is not coming back, but I'm not sure that I want the job now that I've come up with an alternative solution.
I was starting to panic. Not only will my 'Belize or Bust' plan get waylaid, but I will end up, once again spending all my savings.
But I had a serious think and I came to some conclusions. I don't like working almost all the time. I am tired of scrabbling for money all the time. At the moment, I can barely make ends meet on my first wage (the main job). And I'm only doing that job for the money, like so many of us do.
Up until a year ago, I had a massage clinic. But I saw the writing on the wall when the recession was about to hit. This city's massage market is over saturated. I hadn't yet built up enough clientele to make a living off of it before; so I was TOTALLY screwed once the recession hit. At that time I had the massage clinic and my bar job at the military base.
Now, I have a civil servant position at the military base, a bar job at the base, and I do massages out of my house.
So, I talked to my parents. One of the advantages of being this old and single is I don't have any major responsibilities. I asked them if I got laid off, would it be okay to move in with them for a bit and open a massage clinic in MediumSizedTown, Alberta. I would be on unemployment, and could claim whatever wages I made until I more money than Pogey allows.
So I now hope I do get laid off, as that is the only way that I can move. And my expenses at my parents will be much more reasonable then renting a 2 bed house in the city with no insulation, and $200+ per month utilities in the winter (rent + utilities in the winter= $1000. My main job earns me about $1000 every two weeks so that's 50% of my wage).
So here's hoping I get my arse laid off in April :)
- My microwave went 'BOOM'!
- I got an inner ear infection
- My main job may be ending...aaarg!
Then I got an inner ear infection. Thanks to universal health care, I only had to pay $40 for the prescription. Which I will get 80% back minus an initial $25 dollar deductible (excess to all you peeps in the UK). So I will get a whopping $7 back :).
So, I won't be tithing my wages when I get them tomorrow, as they will be paying back my credit card for the extra expenses. I will not touch my $165.05 saved so far. Plus I should make $110 this week as I have four massages this week. Unfortunately two are trades. One is a trade with another massage therapist (Yay! I get a massage back next week). The other is my friend and hairdresser. But the other two are paid :)
The third point I have known about since I got the job. I am covering someones maternity leave. But I had assumed that I would have secured another job by now and that hasn't happened. I am peaceful now though. There are now rumours that the woman I replaced is not coming back, but I'm not sure that I want the job now that I've come up with an alternative solution.
I was starting to panic. Not only will my 'Belize or Bust' plan get waylaid, but I will end up, once again spending all my savings.
But I had a serious think and I came to some conclusions. I don't like working almost all the time. I am tired of scrabbling for money all the time. At the moment, I can barely make ends meet on my first wage (the main job). And I'm only doing that job for the money, like so many of us do.
Up until a year ago, I had a massage clinic. But I saw the writing on the wall when the recession was about to hit. This city's massage market is over saturated. I hadn't yet built up enough clientele to make a living off of it before; so I was TOTALLY screwed once the recession hit. At that time I had the massage clinic and my bar job at the military base.
Now, I have a civil servant position at the military base, a bar job at the base, and I do massages out of my house.
So, I talked to my parents. One of the advantages of being this old and single is I don't have any major responsibilities. I asked them if I got laid off, would it be okay to move in with them for a bit and open a massage clinic in MediumSizedTown, Alberta. I would be on unemployment, and could claim whatever wages I made until I more money than Pogey allows.
So I now hope I do get laid off, as that is the only way that I can move. And my expenses at my parents will be much more reasonable then renting a 2 bed house in the city with no insulation, and $200+ per month utilities in the winter (rent + utilities in the winter= $1000. My main job earns me about $1000 every two weeks so that's 50% of my wage).
So here's hoping I get my arse laid off in April :)
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