Cue the Waterworks

Again, not a Friday, but gotta post this one now!

Okay, so remember this post? Well, let's just add some icing on the cake, okay?

So I joined the OFFICIAL BSB DNA World Tour Facebook Group. The Boys themselves are "admins." (Okay, their social media person/team, but whatever!) Anyway, someone posted this video:

I watched it. Loved it. And cried like a little freaking baby!!!!!!! Why? Well, see the post linked above.

But Baylee was only like 4 when I saw Brian. (It was actually 2007.) I remember seeing him hanging off the side of the stage with his mama watching Dad.

So this is kinda like a really weird full circle moment for me. Gosh, dang it, Kid. You and your dad are KILLING me! I guess I'd better make sure I have tissues with me if he sings it on tour. I can't listen to that song without bawling. And hearing HIM sing it makes me bawl harder because I remember his DAD singing it! Okay, Bay, QUIT GROWING UP!

WIPWednesday Character Intro

I know this is a week late. I totally forgot about it last week. There may be another post a little later today.

I don't remember what my initial introduction was for this story. But I know I like this introduction of my MC. It took me a bit to think of it.

Phineas Mulligan sat alone at the high stakes blackjack table at the Mandalay Bay. She had split her hand a

while ago and yet continued to play two hands. The five thousand dollars in chips that sat before her stayed put and only varied slightly as she played a hundred on each hand. It was her night off and payday was in about four days. She had been to a concert earlier and because she was a night owl by habit and because she worked the graveyard shift, she didn’t feel like going home. Instead, she felt the need to sit at the table and play cards just to kill time before she left. Her long dark hair was up in a ponytail and the tee shirt she wore was from the concert. As she sat there, her eyes on the cards, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Tipping her head slightly towards the person who had tapped her, she mumbled, “Hm?”

“Mind if he plays next to you?”

Phineas lifted her eyes to the dealer slowly and then turned them towards the man off her left shoulder. He was slightly taller than six feet, dark skin, a tee shirt stretched taught against his muscles. His hair was cropped short against his scalp. “Free country,” she commented dropping her eyes back to her cards.

The muscular man leaned down and said closer to her ear, “You clean?”

The phrase caught her off guard. Phineas lifted her eyes back to the man beside her. She caught a glimpse of the man standing behind him; auburn hair, head slightly tipped forward and down. She recognized him instantly as Brian Littrell from the group Backstreet Boys. They had played earlier; she had been at their concert. They obviously didn’t have anywhere to be anytime soon if they were staying over in Vegas. Things now made sense to her. Of course, his personal bodyguard would ask questions and be hanging around too. “I work for the Las Vegas crime lab,” she replied carefully. “He’s probably safer with me than he is with you.” This statement must have placated the man because he nodded curtly and took a step back. He said something to Brian and then stepped away.

“Name’s Phi,” she said as a way of introduction and then folded on the hand she had off to her right. Brian sat down beside her and she ignored him as she finished her one hand in front of her and looked at the dealer. “Tanya, you think he’s ready to play with the high rollers here?”

The dealer, Tanya, in her dress shirt and vest looked at Phi as she slid over her winnings. “Are you going to quit playing games at my table?”

Phi glanced at Brian and saw him chuckle. “Oh, it’s on, honey.” Tanya had obviously caught on to Phi’s strategy of keeping her money close.

Mega FanGirl Friday Post

There is so much fangirling going on in this post, it's not even gonna be funny! So, let's start back on Tuesday, April 2. Baylee Littrell, Brian's son, and aspiring country artist posts on his Instagram that he's gonna announce his "Summer Travel Plans" the next day. Of course the next morning, his fam is all over social media before it happens. Then the Backstreet Boys jump on it and say that Baylee is opening for them on the North American dates of the DNA World Tour. Oh, and "come chat with us on Baylee's Insta account."

Well, of course, I'm already following Baylee. I've been following him for a while now. So on HIS account, I post that "I think I may just buy my ticket now!" I'm not thinking anything of it. But then I get this:

Um, WHAT????? The BOYS just liked my comment?!?!?!?!?! Yeah, totally made my day. Then it became me trying to talk myself out of buying a ticket. The excuses were slim to stupid. I mean, yeah, I missed out on the $25 just on sale rush because of the fire. (Hey, I didn't even know if I was gonna have a job!) But, tickets were still REASONABLE, even for nosebleed seats that I KNEW I would be getting.

So I had everybody trying to talk me out of it. No one could. Everyone said I deserved this. So today I did this:

Yeah, I'm gonna go see my Boys for the first time in 8 years! Yes, it is a nosebleed seat. Yes, my anxiety is probably gonna be through the roof because I will be going BY MYSELF for the first time EVER! But you know what, they're worth it. I'll probably bawl like a baby during "Chances" because well, that was the song that came out around the fire. Or during "I'll Never Break Your Heart" because that's my fav song EVER. But at least I know they will quiet my anxiety. They always do.

Oh, and the other cute/cool little fangirl thing that happened was last night. I had had an awesome day at work! We were two staff short, but the day ran SO SMOOTH and we ran SIX programs with three staff! It was incredible! Then I get home and all hell breaks loose. Well, just as I'm about to take the dogs outside, I get a ping on my phone that Brian is doing a live Instagram video. So I step outside with my phone and jump in to watch. It was adorable! He was essentially helping Baylee get his stage cred. They were "attempting" sing "I Want it that Way" but apparently everyone but Brian forgot the words! And Brian just played along. It was just so adorable to watch that moment.

I have another couple but I'll post them later. Today is just all about there being 118 days until I see the Backstreet Boys!

My Revise And Revive Novel

This month I am taking on a challenge put on by Keri over at Grey Matter Margarita. Not only that it is also WriYe's Resurrection April and it's CampNaNo!

Here's a little backstory:

In case you forgot or don't know, I lost everything in the Camp Fire. (See this post, in which I mention it briefly.) And when I say everything, I mean everything. Fortunately for me and my writing, most of it was either cloud-based or backed up in my email. In going through my old WIPs on the WriYe boards, I found a fic I REALLY wanted to work on. Problem: it was lost in the ashes. So I've been digging through my email and found that I actually submitted some of my writing for "verification" on the WriYe boards. Most of it I didn't encrypt so I just snagged it straight away. I've got a few "Phoenix Fics" I'm working on now and a few that I've completely redone and finished. See, I call them "Phoneix Fics" because they are truly rising from the ashes to become new again.

Anyway, I found this CSI/BSB fic idea in the WIPs list that I totally adored. Unfortunately, it was gone! So I started digging around in the boards and an old blog I used to keep to see if I had written on it at any time during my WriYe ventures. I found that I did in 2010. So I dug around in my verification files and found it! But it was encrypted! So I started the decryption process, hoping I had done simple letter-to-letter encryption and I had! The problem was that when I decrypted it, it was pretty difficult to read in places due to the find-replace feature. That and because I had obviously started this fic at some point, the whole beginning made ZERO sense. Remember, I got this from a verification file, so I only had the words I had written during that verification period in the file. So, yes, I was missing HUGE chunks. Another thing about this verification file that I found was that there was also an outline to this story I used in the verification as well. Granted it's only ten scenes, but it's a starting point. I think it will wind up being about two to three chapters worth.

So this is my Resurrection April fic and it happens to be the one I'm working on for CampNaNo. The reason I chose this as my revise and revive novel is that I'm going back and watching CSI again from the beginning and I know there is some major revision needed in the scenes I have written. But otherwise, I'm looking to write about 30,000 words this story, so that's 1,000 words a day for 30 days. I'm not sure I can do it, especially since for March I've only written like half of that and have been averaging about 100 words a day. But hopefully, with a "new" story, I'll be able to actually get some words in.

Here's my official description:

Phi Mulligan has a rare night off from the crime lab. She uses her time to go see her favorite group, the Backstreet Boys. While deciding to blow her forthcoming paycheck at the high stakes tables, Brian Littrell sits down next to her. After about an hour of playing, both their phones go off at the same time. Phi is called to the very hotel/casino she is standing in. Only then does she realize that Brian's wife Leighanne is the vic and they are there to find the killer. With Grissom and Greg's help, Phi sets off on an investigation that will challenge her beliefs in the band and her place at the Las Vegas Crime Lab. This takes place in 2005, between seasons 5 and 6 of CSI.

Memory Trigger Train

Yes, I know it's Monday. Consider this a special edition!

So last night, I was scrolling Facebook and Brian Littrell shared a video someone had of him doing "You Alone." (His Instagram and Facebook are linked, so I didn't get to actually listen until I saw his Instagram a few minutes later.) This gave me all the feels.

I used to have all his solo stuff. I had it all digitally and most of the physical albums they were on. This post of his made me cry. Because I remembered literally the day before the fire picking up his Welcome Home album, holding it in my hand, and then putting it back on the nightstand. I was debating putting it in my car. I opted not to. Oh, how I should have! The next day, it was gone! I have been trying and trying to find this album, new in package for months now. It's not in my price point. I don't want to drop mad cash for someone's used. I want it new. Amazon is just not my friend right now. Neither is eBay.

Anyway, this morning, I see a second post from him where he seems to be indicating someone was post-jacking or making his post more than what it was. It was simply him saying he got what he needed at that moment from his own song. Yeah, got that. Well, that brought back another memory. Yet another one that makes me cry.

This is back in 2007. I saw Brian solo when he was the main act with ONE album out. Yeah, record execs are funny like that, but I didn't care. I also got to see Brandon Heath. The show seriously wasn't that long. But no one cared. I was in the THIRD ROW! He was literally close enough for me to throw something at. (I didn't.) It was so moving that night. There's one moment that sticks in my mind. He sang a cover. (Yeah, rare, I know.) But more so than that, was the fact that he was overcome during that song. So much so he couldn't get the words out. Now if you've been following this man as long as I have, you know that just DOES NOT HAPPEN. Even in 2013 when he was struggling with his voice, he still got the words out, even if it wasn't the way he wanted. This was a moment. One of those moments that happen because there's a tug at your heart. So what was the song: Tim McGraw's "Don't Take the Girl." Go Google the lyrics if you don't know the song and I think you can figure out the moment he lost it.

I can't listen to that song now. Not because of that. But because I BECAME that moment that Brian lost it in that song, almost six years ago. Six years ago on Thursday, my daughter was born at 28 weeks. Six years ago on Thursday, I had lost half my blood volume. Six years ago on Thursday, had we waited another ten minutes, we both probably wouldn't be here.

So why this memory trigger train? I don't know. All I know is that God obviously knew I needed that. And He KNEW, as he always has.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

-- Jeremiah 29:11

WriYe Blog Circle: Editing

Theme: Editing

It's March. That means in the writing circles I run, it's usually NaNoEdMo or Editing Month! For me, it usually doesn't mean anything. Except for this year, I guess.

Describe your editing process. What is your biggest challenge in editing?

My editing process doesn't usually exist. I don't edit. I don't ever really intend to publish, so what's the point? For the most part, I'm a pretty good speller and spell check does reasonably well. The biggest thing I have been doing lately is revising. I've either been digging up old ideas and either completely redoing them or pulling the "good stuff" out and filling in the rest.

But, there is one thing I have been doing just this past week. I found a story I really wanted to work on. It is a BSB/CSI crossover I did back oh something like eight or nine years ago. I found it in my email as a verification file. The only problem was that I had scrambled it. Thankfully it was a very simple letter-to-letter code to crack. I took things like the letter "e" and turned them into "x" and the letter "t" and turned them into "z" and such. There was only one problem with unscrambling it: sometimes there really was a letter x or z or whatever other letters I used that needed to be there. So it made things a little strange. On top of that, when I spell checked the whole thing, it missed some words. Thankfully where I stopped decoding and decided to call it a day, I am pretty much able to figure out what was being said. Also on the first page, I have like three huge holes of where I have partial scenes written. Like they were literally just pieces. So what I decided to do was print out all 14 pages and just go line by line. I'm about 2 pages in, so that's not bad for the first day! And I've still got some time to figure out the timeline, the outline and more. I've actually got to refigure who the killer is and the whole plot as I basically just have the first act figured out for ONE of the stories. Usually, these CSI things have two or three stories running through them.

So that is basically my editing/revision process. It usually doesn't exist, except when it has to. This BSB/CSI crossover I am hoping to use for CampNaNo in April.

Fans

So this FanGirl Friday is about the latest video that the Backstreet Boys dropped. They are doing these minute long videos. They've done each of the guys and this week, they did one about the fans.

At about :38, Brian starts talking. He mentions how when a fan waves a certain way, he does it back so that they know he sees them. I about cried when I heard that. He did that to me on the Black and Blue tour. In fact, it'll be 18 years ago this weekend. I saw that tour three times. For the third night, I knew exactly where I wanted my seats to be: the first-row balcony. I managed to secure I think third-row balcony. During the three songs they did on the mini-stage at the back, literally right in front of me it seemed, I got tired of what I was doing and started applauding in sign language. And low and behold, Brian did it back! It was the best moment of my life, up to that point. It's about as close as I've gotten to meet him. I've seen him up close: the third row at a solo show. I've seen him on the floor of the casino. But him "seeing" me was incredible. It's something I'll never forget.

WHAT?!?!?!?!

I wasn't planning on doing a FanGirl Friday this week, except a couple things happened.

One: Nick about made me cry! So Wednesday, they teased on their Social Media that there was "something coming on YouTube." (When you went to the link that's where it took you.) Okay, so yesterday morning, of course, after I get home from dropping the kids off, my phone pings that they had uploaded a new video.

And Nick says something about a moment of peace and I'm all teary. Yeah, that's what they've given me over the past 3 months: peace. Thanks guys!

On to two: I was at work last night and we were going over our day. I somehow wound up on Pinterest just scrolling. And what do I see but this:

I about fell out of my chair! See, here's the funny thing, if you haven't been following my writing posts (you should!), I started writing this novel back in November. I wasn't sure where it was going to go, but it turned into this Brian/Howie vampire erotica fic. I have never written anything close to that before in my life. I have no idea where it came from. And so when this picture pops up, yeah, I about curse out loud and fall over. Good thing I didn't because no one knew I was on Pinterest pinning the Boys. But now I have a "Sweet Rok" section on my Backstreet Board!

Oh, and number three: I'm learning "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" in ASL. It's actually really fun, though probably gonna kill me in the process.

And number four: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!!! I've seen all the video, even from his wife. It was so cute! And he even thanked all the fans for the birthday love! This man has my heart!

WriYe Mid-Month Update

February Goals

Goals for February:

1. Write 10,000 words (16,500/10,000 words)
2. Read 2 books (1/2)
3. WriYe Blog Circle here

And the Challenges

1. New Moon Madness (155/900 words) FAIL!
2. 100 Word Consistency Challenge (19/28 days)
3. 300 Word Consistency Challenge (15/15 days)
4. Keeping Warm In February (FINISHED...WC: 9,490)
5. WriDay (2,513/2,500 words) WIN!
6. Full Moon Madness (1,024/1,000 words) WIN!
7. 5k Weekend (0,000/2,500 words)

Obviously, things are going well. I've got a ton of words and I've managed to win most challenges so far. The month has one more challenge in it, and hopefully, I can win that one as well.

Otherwise, I have to update my WIPs list for you too! Well, not really my WIPs. More like my FINISHED FICS!

Works in Progress

Untitled (NaNo 2018) -- Supernatural BSB FanFic LGBT Erotica

Starting WC: 51,595

Howie is the leader of a clan of Day Walkers, half-human, half-vampires who are tasked with enforcing vampire law in Las Vegas. His clan is composed of his adviser, Kevin; his tracker, Nick; his messenger, Alex; and Brian, his new pet. They've been together for twenty-five years and things are just now coming to light. Having taken Brian as his pet, Howie is beginning to realize just how broken he is. He also realizes that Brian needs to reclaim his power over his past. But there are demons in the way; demons that seem to be coming back to haunt them. As the lawbreakers, or Gentri, seem to be growing in numbers, the leader of the vampires, Carson, is growing impatient with his Day Walker clans. He orders more clans be brought in to help with the problem. One of the new clans, however, has ties to Brian that threatens to undo all the work Howie has done with him.

Finished Fics

Hush -- Realistic BSB FanFic

Final WC: 9,840

Having lost my voice before seeing the Backstreet Boys on tour, I just happen to run into Brian at Starbucks. He is on the first day of a week-long vocal rest and struggling with the realization of a postponement. We manage to help each other through our own personal struggles.

She's a Dream -- Realistic BSB FanFic

Final WC: 9,490

Brian did something completely insane after his divorce four years prior that wound up being a dream come true. He met a girl online who knew NOTHING about him. They've been married for three years and the pressure is on from all around for him to finally tell her who he really is as the group is getting ready to release a new album and possibly go on tour again. But how will she handle the fact that he's a celebrity when she can barely handle leaving the house?

WriYe Blog Circle: Romance

Theme: Romance

Is romance necessary in all fiction? Why or why not?

This is one of those questions that I find relatively easy to answer but difficult to defend. No, romance does not need to be in all fiction. Why not? Well, I'm not entirely sure on this, to be honest. I think it's probably because I come from a juvenile reading background. And then I also read a lot of YA. Unfortunately, a lot of YA is either romance or dystopian or both!

But no, you don't need to have romance in every story. I've written short stories that don't have romance in them. They turned out fine.

If you do have romance in your fiction, tell us about your favorite pairings. Why are they your favorite?

Well, I haven't looked back at a lot of my work from years gone by, but lately, I've been writing a lot of fanfiction. Honestly, my favorite pairing is with Brian Littrell and an original character. Yes, I live in a fantasy world. I enjoy it. Leave me alone! It's my favorite because, well, I either enjoy screwing with his "perfect" life or just having fun with his faults.

Oddly, I have done some slash pairings that surprise me. My NaNo novel for 2018 was a slash pairing of Howie and Brian. I totally wasn't expecting it, but it works for the story.

January and February Goals

January Goals

So this is the final update for January:

1. Write 10,000 words. (23,058/10,000 words)
2. Read 2 books. (1/2 books)
3. WriYe Blog Circle here

I also plan to participate in the following challenges:

1. WriDay (1,742/2,500 words) FAIL!
2. 100 Word Consistency (31/31 days) WIN!
3. New Moon Challenge (941/900 words) WIN!
4. Genre Stretch -- Dystopian (started)
5. Full Moon Madness (1,288/1,000 words) WIN!
6. 5k Weekend (2,516/2,500 words) WIN!

So that was January. It was pretty good. Here are my winner goodies:

February Goals

Now here are my goals for February:

1. Write 10,000 words (04,633/10,000 words)
2. Read 2 books (0/2)
3. WriYe Blog Circle

And the Challenges

1. New Moon Madness (155/900 words) FAIL!
2. 100 Word Consistency Challenge (06/28 days)
3. Keeping Warm In February (Started...WC: 1,565)

I'm sure there will be more challenges. So far things are going well for February. I'm 6 days in and I'm already almost halfway to my goal!

DNA!!!!

Welcome to Friday!!! Best Friday EVER!!!!! Why? Backstreet Boys released a new album today! It is SO AMAZING!!!!!

Yes, I bought a digital copy and my physical copy should be arriving TODAY! They are ALL OVER EVERYWHERE this morning (and last night). I'm like jumping up and down this morning! I've already watched the Jimmy Fallon bits. (Search "Backstreet Boys Jimmy Fallon" on YouTube.)

Just found the Good Morning America stuff. Link here.

The Live with Kelly and Ryan thing hasn't been posted yet, but check back. I'll find it eventually! Okay, so apparently they are on Live today! So that will post tomorrow. But hey, they did get a mention on the Today show: here

Okay, here are the Kelly and Ryan vids:
Performance
Can't get the interview. But their website is: www.kellyandryan.com

WriYe Goals Update

January Goals

Thought I would update this because I kinda met my word goal. This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but life kinda got in the way.

1. Write 10,000 words. (12,091/10,000 words)
2. Read 2 books. (1/2 books)
3. WriYe Blog Circle here

I also plan to participate in the following challenges:

1. WriDay (1,742/2,500 words) FAIL!
2. 100 Word Consistency (23/23 days)
3. New Moon Challenge (941/900 words) WIN!
4. Genre Stretch -- Dystopian (started)
5. Full Moon Madness (1,288/1,000 words) WIN!
6. 5k Weekend (0,000/2,500 words)

So yes, I did meet my monthly goal. I'm still trucking away on my NaNo novel. I can feel it is close to finishing. So I just want to keep going on it. I still need to outline it because there are a couple of plot holes or unresolved issues that need to be taken care of. I'm just finding myself having a difficult time writing right now. Not because of any one thing, but just because. So anyway, these are the goal updates as of yesterday because it should have been a WriYe Wednesday.

Backstreet Week

This week, I have a week full of Backstreet Boys and most of it was at work! And it's not even release week yet!

The first thing happened at a work training on Tuesday. We were all sitting there and our trainer, who also happens to be our CFO, made some comment about music and how his son listens to way different music than he did. Well, a co-worker, D, said, "What did you listen to, J, Backstreet Boys?" No one in the room knew I was a fan because I was the only one from my site. I just dropped the proverbial, "Don't go there!" It was just too funny in my mind.

The second thing happened on Wednesday. Supervisor J had already left for an appointment. We were down to one kid, a fourth-grade girl. One of the other staff members was cleaning in the corner, humming something. Fourth-grader said that guys couldn't sing. I teased her that she needed to hear my ring tone. So I played it for her. (It's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".) She heard it and went, "I love this song! Who sings it?" BAM! It opened the door for me to pull up YouTube and show her it was the Backstreet Boys! I even caught her singing it a few minutes later. Converting the next generation!

Then, there was last night. I happened to check my phone to see if I needed to charge it and there was a note that the Backstreet Boys had posted a new video. So I check it out. The song is called "Breathe" and it's them acapella! *swoon* I guess that's one way to make sure your album doesn't get leaked: drop it yourself! One more week until this album comes out!

Mid-Month Goal Update

January Goals

Now that the month is half over, I figured I'd better update my goals so you can see how things are going:

1. Write 10,000 words. (8,844/10,000 words)
2. Read 2 books.
3. WriYe Blog Circle here

I also plan to participate in the following challenges:

1. WriDay (1,742/2,500 words) FAIL!
2. 100 Word Consistency (15/15 days)
3. New Moon Challenge (941/900 words) WIN!
4. Genre Stretch -- Dystopian (started)
5. Full Moon Madness (0,000/1,000 words)

So the word count is actually pretty good for where I should be in the month. I'm actually pretty pleased and will likely have more than 10,000 words by the end of the month. Consistency wise, I've been doing okay, but the word goal is kinda low. I may up it to the next level in February. I'm hoping to finish a short story for the Genre Stretch, but I'm not sure about it now. It kinda has no plot. I'm almost done with a book. I just need to sit down and finish it! Well, that's the update for now. Hopefully, next week will be just as fruitful as the last two weeks have been!

WriYe Blog Circle: Goals

I'm back to doing WriYe again this year. I don't know why. I think it's because I got back into writing in November with NaNoWriMo. (More on that later.) So I thought I would pick up the Blog Circle Prompt for January.

Theme: Goals

What is your WriYe Word Count Goal?

My goal is 120,000 words.

Why did you choose it?

I chose it because I figured I could do at least 10,000 words a month. Now, this isn't counting Camp NaNo in April and/or July or NaNoWriMo in November. I'm leaving those alone right now. I'm hoping that if I do write more in those months that it will serve as either a buffer or a catch up depending upon where my word count is at that point in the year.

What are your plans for the year?

Other than writing 120,000 words, I plan on reading 25 books. Anything beyond that, I really don't know. I'm just going where the wind takes me I guess.

What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

I think for me, it's just about getting back into it. I haven't really written in years. This was the first year I've taken NaNo seriously since about 2014 I think. And on top of that, I'm back into WriYe. I don't know if that's because I am craving interaction with other writers as I muddle my way through this novel of mine or what.

What are you most looking forward to in 2019?

Probably new beginnings. After the absolute disaster that was 2018, I don't think there's a whole lot left that can faze me.

So that's about it for this prompt. Can't wait for the next one!

#BSBNoPlace

I never would've thought an Instagram/Facebook post would trigger me. But it did. How? Ask me what "home looks like."


That post, which I initially found on the Backstreet Boys Instagram, sent me into a very weird spiral yesterday. Not sure why, but I'm pretty sure it's because I've been trying to figure out what "Home" is for the past two months.

See, home used to look like this:

But then November 8 happened. The Camp Fire came and destroyed it.

So I have been trying for a while now to figure out what exactly "Home" looks like, feels like, sounds like. After seven weeks we are finally in a new house. We have all new furniture, all new everything. And yet, I'm still not sure if it feels like home. It's getting there. Getting back into routines is helping. But I'm just not sure. I mean, how do you define home when everything was taken away?

I guess for me, the simplest thing to define home is this picture:

These two munchkins lounging on our new couch together. My mom and I worked so hard to try and find a home for them. We didn't want them to be in a trailer long term. We didn't want to rebuild because it's toxic up there.

I guess that is going to be part of the process of moving forward. Weird things are going to trigger the emotions. Never would've thought it would be something so simple.

No Place I'd Rather Be

So this morning I woke up to an onslaught of Instagram mini-videos. Apparently, the Backstreet Boys were releasing new music. Yeah, they teased it on Wednesday after their DNAuary video. But instead of releasing the video all at once, they decided to post a bazillion clips on their various social media accounts and then release the whole thing! I had just about pieced it together when Brian posted that it was finally up on YouTube. From the clips I had heard, I was fearing I was going to not be in the mood for the sap (just not feeling the whole lovey-dovey thing right now), but of course, these Boys always surprise me. Yes, I like it. Yes, I can't wait the three more weeks until the whole album is out. Yes, I will pre-order (once I get the PO Box situation figured out here soon, I hope).

So, yes, I am FanGirling this morning, hard! And yes, this post is out of color context. Sorry, their new album colors are black and red.

Apparently, my daughter does not like my music. So I am stuck using my "earbugs" (as she calls them) because otherwise, she starts singing "Baby Shark" at the top of her lungs. I have to put up with this in the car when we go anywhere. Now if the Backstreet Boys would sing "Baby Shark"... I wish I could order my mp3 player, but this again is another PO Box issue. I'm hoping to get the things I need here soon so I can get my PO Box set up in my tiny town with the big name. See, we don't get curbside delivery, so we get a free PO Box. Right now, our PO Box is in the town just up the road because I am waiting for the deed to the house to come to get things set up here. So it makes for delivering things really difficult. That is why I have not pre-ordered this album. I want it to come to ME, I just don't know where that is going to be at yet.

I am loving all the new things these Boys are putting out. Takes me back to years ago. Maybe that's what I need right now. Maybe we are starting over together.

The Orville

A new season of The Orville started on Fox last Sunday. I can't wait! I watched all of season 1 on Hulu and have already streamed the first episode of season 2. I had to wait a whole year for this show!

It is the brainchild of Seth MacFarlane. Yes, the guy who came up with shows like Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, and American Dad! Because of the humor on said shows, you would think The Orville wouldn't be something I'd watch, but you're wrong.

Yes, there's adult humor, but not like his animated shows. And it is set in space, on a spaceship. Oh, and he picked the absolute best executive producer to help him out with a show like this: Brannon Braga! Braga goes all the way back to Star Trek: The Next Generation, where he started as an intern. He's since had his hand in a bunch of Star Trek creations. And also, MacFarlane brought in Jonathan Frakes (William Riker on TNG) and Robert Duncan McNiell (Tom Paris on Voyager) to direct in the first season. So, I mean, obviously, the guy is doing something right.

The show is cute, has enough sci-fi/space elements to keep it moving and deals with things with humor. And then there is the long-term plot they have that Captain Mercer and Commander Grayson are divorced and he still loves her.

I cannot wait for more episodes of this to air. It's actually going to give me something to kick the kids off the TV for.

Works in Progress

Works in Progress

These are the current works I have in progress as of right now. I'm sure there will be more as I dive into my online archives and see what I want to come back to. But as of now, this is what I have:

Untitled (NaNo 2018) -- Supernatural BSB FanFic LGBT Erotica

Starting WC: 51,595

Howie is the leader of a clan of Day Walkers, half-human, half-vampires who are tasked with enforcing vampire law in Las Vegas. His clan is composed of his adviser, Kevin; his tracker, Nick; his messenger, Alex; and Brian, his new pet. They've been together for twenty-five years and things are just now coming to light. Having taken Brian as his pet, Howie is beginning to realize just how broken he is. He also realizes that Brian needs to reclaim his power over his past. But there are demons in the way; demons that seem to be coming back to haunt them. As the lawbreakers, or Gentri, seem to be growing in numbers, the leader of the vampires, Carson, is growing impatient with his Day Walker clans. He orders more clans be brought in to help with the problem. One of the new clans, however, has ties to Brian that threatens to undo all the work Howie has done with him.

Video that inspired this fic.

Untitled -- Realistic BSB FanFic

Starting WC: 1,125

Just a short story about meeting a guy at work and him taking me to see BSB.

January Goals

January Goals

My overall word goal is 120,000 words. So here are my goals for the month of January.

1. Write 10,000 words.
2. Read 2 books.
3. WriYe Blog Circle

I also plan to participate in the following challenges:

1. WriDay (1,742/2,500 words) FAIL!
2. 100 Word Consistency (1/1 days)
3. New Moon Challenge (000/900 words)

More challenges to be added later.