Fiction vs Non Fiction

I've been thinking about writing a non fiction project and I actually started working on a new book at the beginning of the year. There are a few reasons I've been considering changing my focus.

One reason is burn out. I've been writing erotic romance for a few years now. My first short story was published in 2006. A lot has changed since then in publishing. Kindles and Nooks have taken off. Self publishing is the new craze and anyone can have a book on Amazon by tomorrow. The competition, quite frankly, is fierce. Unless you have some idea that is off the hook out there that no one else has done, you'll just get swept away in sea of books available. Plain old erotic fiction has become very mainstream nowdays, when before it was not the norm. Times how they change.

Another reason is school. Last semester I took a creative non fiction writing class and it was fantastic. I've never tried writing any type of non fiction before (unless you count diaries throughout my lifetime) and I found a knack for it. In fact, I even had an article published in The Chronicle, the Columbia College award winning school paper. I thought to myself that maybe there's something there...

So, I have two projects that are erotic fiction I will continue to work on. I have two BDSM themed projects I will work on as well, although they will most likely be published under a different name. My cousin and I have a series we're working on with book one completed. And lastly will be my non fiction project. (Also possibly to be published under another name). A little overwhelming? Kind of. But that's typical in the life of a writer. Multiple projects, different pen names and a general feeling of chaos all over the place. Welcome to the life of a writer.

The Ticking is the Bomb

The Ticking is the Bomb is written by Nick Flynn who also wrote Another Bullshit Night in Suck City. (Which, btw, is going to released as the movie "Being Flynn".) I read Suck City for a class, and I ended up falling in love with Flynn's writing style. I'm not one to read memoirs, but both books are incredibly well written. And while the books deal with pretty heavy subjects like alcoholism, homelessness, and abandonment, they tell great stories that everyone should read. There's almost something comforting with reading about someone else's dysfunctional family. It's proof of humanity and how we are all the same despite our differences. I recommend reading Suck City first, since it was written first and you'll probably find yourself wanting to read Ticking just like I did.

Couponing in Chgo Revisited

I am amazed at how many people Google "extreme couponing Chicago" and find my little place on the internet. I believe my previous post was pretty accurate and I'm curious if others agree. If you have had a positive extreme couponing experience in the city I would love to hear about it. Can anyone in Chgo actually get 500.00 worth of groceries for 20 bucks? I don't know... I still stick by what I said and doubt anyone can like the shows on cable.

Leave a comment and let me know your experiences and opinions.

Still Missing Kelly McQuaid

It's January 23rd again. Strange thing, I look in my datebook a lot and I knew this day was coming, but I started thinking about it tonight and it just overwhelmed me. It is so, so hard to explain to someone how I feel on this day. I have such an incredible feeling of sadness. I do the same thing every year... I put on some Michael McDermott music and get overcome with these feelings of missing her. And I always, always, end up crying.

I can't tell you how many times I'll say to myself "Kelly would love this tv show" or "I wish Kelly could hear this new Michael McDermott song" or "Damn, Kelly would think he is hot!" LOL I still miss her so much it literally hurts my heart. But, I know I was very lucky to have her as a friend the years I did. And I like to think she knows I miss her. I also like to think she is somewhere in heaven listening to new Michael McDermott and watching Jersey Shore.

I miss you Kelly-Kel.











Taken in the early 1990's downtown Chicago. Kelly was driving me to work when we heard a contest on the radio to win a free gas fill up if you would sing an Elvis song. We ended up singing "Don't Be Cruel" with a guy who was a principal of a Chicago Public School. We did more of a backup for the guy than actually sing. She did get the free gas and I got to work on time. You can see the sign for the Hard Rock Cafe in the distance behind us.











I took this when we were on one of our road trips. This was on the Canada side of Niagra Falls. We drove from Detroit and when we crossed into Canada the woman refused to stamp Kelly's passport because "it wasn't necessary." Kelly was not happy.









This was taken the night we met Michael McDermott. He was doing a live interview so we drove to the radio station and waited for him. He was very cool and invited us to go to the filming of his "Just West of Eden" video at the Beat Kitchen. Of course we left work early and went. We spent the entire day there but it was so much fun. We ended up in quick little shots of the video. I looked for it on youtube but I couldn't find it there. I did find it somewhere else and am posting it below. If you look carefully at the front of the stage (because of course we were at the front of the stage-ha!) you can see us. (1:06, 1:28, 1:53, 2:00, 3:39)Weird thing... this is the only video that exists of the two of us together.

So do me a favor. I usually don't ask readers for a favor. Please click the link below and listen to the song and watch the video. You don't have to like it, just do in honor of my friend Kelly. Thank you.

JUST WEST OF EDEN Video - ARTISTdirect Music

Happy 2012!

I hope everyone is having a great 2012 so far! This year promises to be a great one, even though the Mayans say the world is going to be ending. I personally have a lot of new projects in the works and I'll share them with you in the next few weeks and months ahead.

So again, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Much Needed Update

I realize I've neglected my little place on the internet. My last posting was in July, the middle of summer. I had a great time with my kids home from school. Now they'r back in the swing of things with a new school year. My oldest is on the track team, his first meet next week.

This summer my cousin and I signed on with a NY agent for our book series we wrote together. We're very excited at the prospect of our book settling in at the home of a NY publisher.

This summer I also decided to go back to school. I'm only going part time but this time next year I'll be finishing and graduating with my Bachelor's in the fall. I should mention I've met some pretty awesome people at school. It recharges my creative batteries being around other creative people.

Last week I was able to scratch something off my bucket list. I got my nose pierced with my friend Misia. She went with for support and ened up getting hers pierced before me. LOL It didn't hurt at all getting it done and it looks pretty cool I think. My next item off my list will be a tattoo during Christmas break from school.

And finally I have started working out in earnest since my son (the runner) has announced he wants to train for marathons. So I am going to train along with him so that we can do races together. We're looking at a Halloween race next month we're considering along with a race that is on Thanksgiving Day.

So Happy Fall to everyone and thanks for stopping by. I'll try to stay more up to date on here. Really. : )

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quirky ideations | The "Pizza Butler" has arrived! Finally a secure & safe place to put your pizza in your car. No more sliding pizza cheese or indgredients.

No Mr Romance at RT?

I read online today that the Mr Romance competition is not going to happen anymore at Romantic Times conventions. I was truly shocked to hear about this announcement. Plus, I admit I was bummed a bit as RT next year is going to be here in Chicago for the first time. Darn it the first time they have it here they drop Mr Romance!! Mr Romance has been around for 18 years and is a expected event, just like the costume parties and author book signing.

From what I read some people are glad the event is now cancelled because they viewed it as degrading and demeaning to the guys involved. Personally I don't understand this, because many romance and erotica books have half naked men on the covers, and women don't boycott books because the cover model is being degraded on the cover. But whatever... everyone has their opinion and I understand that. I'm just curious to see if losing this event will hurt the attendance next year at RT.

Now I understand the models will be offered a special rate to attend, but I wonder if sponsors will be easily found if there is no competition to win. (And thus no bragging rights by the sponsor that "My model won Mr Romance.")Maybe authors or publishers will pay a models way to mingle with the readers and help do promo. It's a good idea if you can afford it and foot the bill.

I'm still curious to see how it will work out and if we won't have the eye candy RT attendees have come to know and expect.

Neil Patrick Harris Kicks Broadway Ass

I love Neil Patrick Harris. My love for him is pretty recent I admit. I absolutely loved him in the Harold and Kumar movies. I adore his Comcast commercials. And I thought his performance at the beginning of the Tony's was brilliant. And, parts of the song are actually true, which makes it even funnier. You can see the performance below in case you missed it. It will certainly cause you to have a spring in your step this lovely Friday summer morning.

The Countess Book Review

The Countess: A Novel by Rebecca Johns

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book wasn't what I thought it was going to be at all. I thought it would be bloody and graphic, describing the live of the woman sometimes described as the female Dracula, but it read almost like a text book instead. It was well written and clearly the author did a lot of research, but in the end I wasn't thrilled at all.



View all my reviews

Happy 4th of July!!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th. And please be sure to watch all your fingers tonight when you're setting off those fireworks!!

Eli's Cheesecake Farmers Market

If you are on the north side of the city on Thursdays you should check out the farmers market at Eli's Cheesecake Factory on Forest Preserve Drive. The hours are from 7am to 1pm. There is a free continental breakfast from 7am-9am with $5.00 purchase and every week there special events planned such as flower arranging and a live jazz band. I've been taking my kids for years and we always come away with a fantastic selection of fruits and veggies. The kids also end up with some sort of baked goodie... this week a flourless chocolate cake for one and a red velvet cupcake.

The farmers market runs until October 27th. 6701 W Forest Preserve Drive. Check out the Eli's website for a full list of dates and events.

Book Review: On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chgo Police Dept.

On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department by Daniel P. Smith

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


First of all let me say I really wanted to like this book. My dad who is retired CPD got this for me because he met the author somewhere. Now let me explain that my dad LOVES all things CPD. He started in 1967 and retired a few years ago. He knows I love police stuff... probably because I grew up around it my whole life. So he gave me this book without reading it himself first.

But this book. Goodness. The author is NOT on the CPD. He never was, although he had two uncles, brother, father, and brother in law who were. I think the thing that bothered me the most was on the second page where he explains that because he had relatives who were CPD indirectly he was too. Wait. What? So does that mean because my dad was I'm one too? Maybe I'm being overly critical but that logic didn't work for me. There's also a chapter called "Who Are We?" We? How about "Who Are They?" because you aren't a CPD dude. From what I read you don't even live in the city. (Which is a residency requirement to be on the department.)

It wasn't all bad...

The history of the CPD was interesting and so were some of the photos. I liked a few of the police officers stories that they told. (And btw I was taught calling police "coppers" was not polite and to say "police officer". The term "copper" was all over this thing. Equivalant of nails on a chalk board for me.)

At least I can honestly tell my dad I read the book when he asks me.
View all my reviews

About the Author

I was recently reading an "About the Author" bio for a romance writer and saw "she lives with her real life hero, three daughters and four cats." This made me take pause for some reason and made me say "Meh. I call bullshit." Is it really possible to have total happiness with a man, three children and four cats? This sounds awful boring to me and not the type of life one has living with a "real life hero." Maybe because heroes are only in make believe and not real life. It just didn't sound realistic to me. I think a bio of "She lives with her 24/7 sub whom she keeps in chastity and is always ready at a moments notice to serve her. When she is not writing erotica she is training her beloved sub." sounds much more exciting.

No Texting During the Movie!!

Have you seen this PSA for "No texting during the movie" from a theater called The Alamo in Texas? This was made from an actual customer who called to complain about her getting kicked out of the theater for texting during a movie. I applaud the theater owners for making this ad. It shows just how ignorant people can be, and how they have that "it's all about me and screw everyone else attitude". And the sad part is that I bet this woman will never learn to act differently.

In the Trenches

This weekend I was able to attend an incredible writers conference in Winnetka. The conference was sponsored by the Evanston Writer's Workshop.

On Friday night there was a get together so everyone could mingle and get to know each other a bit. Romatic Times Magazine founder Kathryn Falk gave an inspiring talk and set the tone for the rest of the event.

Saturday and Sunday were workshops (Plotting, contracts, epublishing, editing examples of a few topics covered) led by authors (such as the super fabulous Cherry Adair) and agents from a few publishers. Next year the conference will be in August instead of June. If you are a beginning writer or an already published veteran to the publishing world, you should try to attend this event.

You can find out more about the Evanston Writer's Workshop by visiting their website at Evanston Writer's Workshop.

NKOTBSB WOWZA!!

If you know me,you know I'm all about Joe McIntyre and New Kids on the Block. I think it's all sorts of awesomeness that they recorded a song with the Backstreet Boys. (Joe or Nick? Wait... what am I thinking? Of course it's Joe!!)I only wish Kelly was around to see this cuz I'm fairly certain she'd have us driving across the US following them on tour...

Author Page On Facebook

If you are on Facebook please check out my Author Page and "like" it. The link is Annmarie FB Author Page

Thanks!

Is Extreme Couponing Possible In Chicago?

Recently I watched a show called "Extreme Couponing" on cable. I sat and watched two episodes back to back, completely fascinated. There were women who bought up to twelve copies of the Sunday paper to get more coupons. Another had a paper delivery guy drop off all the extras he had at her house. She even had a room just to store all her coupons. The participants explained how they cut coupons for 30 to 40 hours a week. Some even had their children sitting around the table cutting away.

Now in the episodes I saw, there were purchases made for 62 bottles of mustard (for .39 each after coupons) and 132 bottles of Excedrin (that actually gave the consumer .51 each because the coupon was for more than the sale price. She made something like $51.00 for taking the product from the store.) There were a few things that bothered me about all this. First of all while I understand these were great deals, does anyone need 62 bottles of mustard or 132 bottles of Excedrin at one time? I know at one point one of the women (couponer?) mentioned donating some packages of noodles she'd bought, and another gave stuff to other family members, but for the rest of what I saw, everything was kept. Things brings me to my next topic...

Storage of the items. I saw paper towels and toilet paper under kids beds. Shelves with product in bedrooms. A shower used only for storage. My own kids made me promise to never store stuff under their beds. Even at seven and ten they caught on that this was extreme indeed. My ten year old also asked me why would a family need to have three years worth of food in their house. And if they had that much, why did they keep on bringing in more stuff. I said I wasn't sure, but perhaps we'd see these families again on an episode of Hoarding.

So when the show was over I started thinking about how these families used all the coupons they did. First of all they doubled coupons up to $1.00. Where I live in Chgo, no stores that I know of do this. Dominick's says some locations double, but not near me. They also will not let you net a cash credit if the coupon is for more than the item's selling price. (The Excedrin example wouldn't work here.) They also don't allow coupon stacking and don't allow a customer to redeem two or more manufacturer coupons against the same item in a single transaction. Dominick's and Meijers also say they can limit quantities from what I saw on their websites. I couldn't find any coupon "rules" for Jewel at all. So basically, after looking around online I don't think it's possible to even attempt to try to "extreme coupon" here in the city the way I saw on tv. Maybe you can at another store I didn't mention, but at the biggies it certainly doesn't seem that way to me. But that's ok because I'll just keep buying my bottles of mustard one at a time and store our tp in the bathroom closet and not under our beds.

Get Glam Gams from Benefit

I love Benefit. They sell wonderful cosmetics with super cool product names and packaging. I was first introduced to the products when I did a photo shoot for Capture His Heart Again Photography. Benefit is also where I go to have my eyebrows done. (waxed) They have Benefit bars in some Ulta stores and you get even get your eyebrows done on your birthday for free. That reminds me, I better go make my appointment for Friday...

Dead Girl Talking Update

I was notified today that Dead Girl Talking will be available in print. As soon as I get details I will post them here. :)

Foot Fetishism

From Wikipedia and edited for content:

Foot fetishism, foot partialism, foot worship, or podophilia is a pronounced sexual interest in feet. It is the most common form of sexual preference for otherwise non-sexual objects or body parts.

Characteristics Foot fetishism has been defined as a pronounced sexual interest in the feet or footwear. Freud considered foot binding as a form of fetishism. For a foot fetishist, points of attraction include the shape and size of the foot and toes (e.g., long toes, short toes, painted toes, high arches, slender soles, fat toes, long toenails, short toenails, small feet, toenail color, etc.), jewelry, toe rings, ankle bracelets, treatments e.g. French pedicure, state of dress (e.g., barefoot, flip flops, high heels, ballet flats, or clad in socks or nylons), odor, and any form of sensory interaction, e.g. licking, kissing, sucking toes, tickling, person giving foot jobs, or trampling/stomping and shoeplay., socks sniffing, socks licking can also be included in the list.

Famous foot fetishistsCelebrities are listed alphabetically by last name and single name.

Jack Black
David Boreanaz
Ted Bundy
Brooke Burke
Casanova
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Thomas Hardy
Enrique Iglesias
Tommy Lee
Ludacris
Ricky Martin
Elvis Presley
Christian Slater
Britney Spears
Quentin Tarantino
Andy Warhol

Frankentoe

Today I had a little outpatient surgery on my toe. Turns out that if you walk into a dresser hard enough you can actually kill the nail and have to have it removed. So, I highly recommend you DO NOT walk into a dresser if at all possible. Ouch.

Covers Updated

My bookcovers on the sidebar have finally been updated. I'm hoping to add another one or two before the end of the year. My newest release is "Guarding Pandora".

Naperville Teen Photographer MODEL SEARCH 2011

Are you the parent of a teen? Be sure to check out this great website to learn about their model search.

Are you photogenic? Do you like to pose? Do you have “fashion” sense? Are you between 13-18? If you fit this criteria – we have just the job for you – we are looking for Model Reps for our 2011 Model Search. Representing our studio is a job we only allow a small number of friends to participate. You must have good grades (your parents approval to participate) and an interest in modeling.

You can go directly to the website at Kate Dwyer Photography.com