Deborah Woehr

The greatest thing about anthologies is that you can pass over the stories that don’t grab you for the stories that do. I’ll comment about the ones that grabbed me and kept me reading.

Shades of Shaniko A couple finds themselves in a desolate town, where the only sign of life is in a hotel that transports them into another era. The writing was great, and the story left me wanting more. This one was my favorite.

Bring Crosses A psychic cop and his partner try to track down a vicious serial killer. This story was a twist of flashbacks and alternate endings, which kept me glued. Original.

Extras A story reminiscent of The Twilight Zone. The husband isn’t getting any and decides to go to a message parlor to get some, only he got more than he bargained for. I actually laughed out loud when I read the climax (pun intended). Great story.

Pig’s Teeth This was another serial killer story, narrated by a college professor. The writing was somewhat dry, but I was curious to know why the author chose his title. You’ll find out when you read this gruesome story.

The Breaking Box I pass on stories involving human torture, but ths story has a satisfying ending. Very original.

Clambake This was another story that had a Twilight Zone feel. A man’s mistress goes to great lengths to save his wife, at the advice of a gypsy fortune teller.

Unhealthy I hated every fucking word of this story, especially since I was sitting next to my son as I was reading it. This is a story about a little boy who is being held captive by his drunken, crazed father. The author goes into great detail about the poor kid’s starvation and sexual molestation. The only thing that kept me reading was that I wanted to see him escape. To say this story is “unhealthy” is a gross understatement because the story has a very disturbing ending that will haunt me for a long time.

Overall, I would recommend this book for horror fans.

When I was growing up, McDonald’s was a treat that my mother bestowed on us every once in a while. I remember walking a half mile to my nearest Micky D’s with a girlfriend when I was twelve and spending just under a buck for a cheeseburger, fries, and a medium coke. Again, those jaunts were once a week, if that. We grew up eating healthy.

Once I moved out on my own, it became a different story. I found myself cooking for six because that’s what I was used to doing. By the end of the week, I had to throw everything out because I couldn’t eat it fast enough. So I started getting takeout and fast food. What the hell, I thought. It’s better than wasting food.

My coworkers used to laugh at me because I’d get a doughnut and a Pepsi off the catering truck every morning. Then for lunch, I’d go to the local Carl’s Jr. and order myself a Western Bacon Cheeseburger meal, supersizing it in the process. I became a full-blown caffeine/fast food junkie by the time I turned 21.

Things didn’t improve until I became pregnant with my oldest son. For most of my pregnancy, I couldn’t eat hamburgers without feeling or getting sick. But I was okay when I ate salads and light meals. So that’s what I ate, with the occasional indulgence of mozzarella sticks at our local Italian restaurant.

When he was born, I decided to stay home. I was still eating well (when the baby would allow me to eat) and continued to do so after my youngest son was born. The old habit didn’t kick in until my oldest started going to kindergarten. It became more convenient to go grab a burger and a Happy Meal after we dropped the older one.

Soon, I found myself preferring a fast food hamburger over a deli sandwich for lunch. My kids would sulk or refuse to eat anything for lunch other than fast food. My husband was no better off than we were.

I found out that we weren’t alone when I broached the subject with a friend. She confided in me that school, soccer, and T-Ball took up what little time she had to cook. Most of her day was spent shuttling the kids around. A lot of parents have fallen into this trap.

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal came out in 2002. I didn’t read the book, although I was tempted to because I knew we had a problem, especially with lunch on the weekends. I mentioned the book to my husband.

He told me that he’d read an article about the rise of diabetes in young adults and how it was directly related to the consumption of fast food. Now, I’m hearing about the rise of this disease in children. My kids eat a healthy breakfast (cereal and fruit), and 99% of the time we’ll send them to school with a bag lunch. My husband and I share the cooking at dinner.

But come the weekend, we fall by the wayside. Sometimes it’s laziness, and sometimes we’re too busy with our household/personal projects to make the time. Between the health risks and the rising costs, we’d better make the time.

These ribbons are about as useless as those stupid yellow diamond things that said, “Baby On Board.” But it just goes to show that people will buy anything to “fit in.” The Bay Area is rife with yellow and patriotic magnet ribbons, with the occasional pink just to take away the monotony.

But people, we need more color. So, please, if you really must be a follower in this stupid ribbon craze, might I suggest you visit this site, where you can get your very own customized ribbon in a wide varay of colors, patterns, and sports themes. Sorry, Soccer Moms, you’re screwed.

Source: Ramblings from the Desert

I’ve been enjoying my time off so far. So much so, that I don’t want to look for another job. I was beginning to think that my husband was accepting the fact that I’m home. But when the family came over for my youngest’s birthday party on Thursday and asked me about my job, he said that I was “currently between assignments.”

My brother-in-law then piped up about all the retail jobs that are out there. I thanked him and changed the subject. My sister and aunt told me horror stories about their retail jobs, so I won’t be pursuing those. And, after 20 years in the admin field, I am completely burned out.

Yesterday, my husband expressed his concern that his salary won’t be enough to support us. We need to quit smoking (which costs us $600/month), cut out the fast food, and learn to shop well at the grocery store. Then I think we’ll be okay.

I’m still in the research phase of finding (or developing) my own home-based business. He knows this, so he suggested that I check into becoming a Mortgage Broker or a Real Estate Appraiser. That’s what I was doing all day yesterday (when I wasn’t sleeping off this stupid cold).

Both careers are require certification and licensing, which will cost a lot of money. Then I’ll have to spend more money to market the business. This isn’t something to jump into unless you want to make a lifelong career choice out of this. I don’t know if I’ll like this choice.

I want to do something that I enjoy. I’ve wasted my entire adult life working jobs that I hate because I had no other choice. Now that my bills are paid off, I feel that I can be more selective about the path I choose. Art is my passion, whether I paint, etch scratchboards, write, etc. I’ve veered off this path many times for the sake of money, only to return full circle.

Lately, I’ve been seeing commercials for the Academy of Art and remembering how my mother wouldn’t let me go. San Francisco was too far away, she said. I laugh at this now because she sent my sister to San Diego for college (with an ulterior motive, though). I did graduate with an AS in Computer Graphics in ‘93, but found myself pregnant two weeks after I received my diploma.

Wasn’t it John Lennon who said, “Life happens when you’re making plans?” Twelve years later, I’m back at square one when most people are at the pinnacle of their careers at my age, watching that art college commercial and thinking how much technology has changed. I have a lot of catching up to do.

It started on Wednesday, a slight cough. I blamed it on the dust from the ductwork the contractors have been doing. Then my youngest walks up to my car when school got out on Friday and announces that his nose has been running all day. He was very congested on Saturday, but had his normal exuberant spirit.

I, on the other hand, woke up later than usual and with a severe sore throat yesterday morning. I sat at the computer for most of the day, researching new career paths at the insistence of my husband (a topic for another post). Eventually, I walked away and picked up Embark to Madness, read the rest of the short story I’d been reading, and then took a two-hour nap.

All day, I thought about my novel and the scratchboard that’s ready for etching. I couldn’t force myself to do either. My head hurt to much to think.

Today, I have to force myself to go out and get the supplies for my youngest’s slumber party, which is coming up this weekend. The housework can wait until Wednesday, if needed.

The previews looked decent, so I went. What surprised me was that the actress (Maggie Grace) who plays Shannon on Lost has a star role in this film as Elizabeth.

I won’t delve into the plot too much, as it is a very typical ghost story with equally typical horror elements and expendable characters. I will say that Elizabeth is the most intelligent and believable character in the movie. She is the one who unravels the mystery while the others either race around in hysteria, get killed in gruesome fashions, or are “just there.”

The cinematography was very good. I liked how the ghosts looked and moved. In other films (ex. Gothica), the ghost’s movements were choppy. I also liked how they made the fog a living entity, able to seep through the cracks and get the characters. But I didn’t care for the growling.

Fog is silent. Had the special effects people allowed the fog to be quiet, I think it would have kept the people unaware and added more to the terror. As a whole, The Fog is a decent B movie. What made it interesting was the backstory and Elizabeth’s part in it.

I’ve been tagged by Lee Pletzers. This is what I have to do:

1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Search my archive for the 23rd post.
3. Find the 5th sentence, or closest to.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas
5. Tag 5 people to do the same.

Here’s my sentence from July 4th:

“I found this article while looking up the key word “ghost stories” for a new site I’m planning to build that will contain ghost stories as well as research articles on the subject of the paranormal.”

What is the meaning of my sentence? I love the subject of the paranormal and want to gather as much information as I can. Then I want to store it in one convenient place.

Who am I going to tag? Well, there’s several in this game already. I’ll pick some names anyway. Mark, Joe at The Omniverse, David at Urbian Semiotic, Pat at Ramblings from the Desert, W.S. Cross at Beyond You & Me

I started The Writers Buzz on Christmas Eve of last year with the goal of helping writers promote their books or anything writing-related. Over the months, I’ve gathered quite a bit of material for book marketing, internet marketing, etc. and received quite a few compliments as well as earning a contact in the PR industry.

Other writers have come, from time to time, and posted announcements of their upcoming books. But that’s few and far between. I’m still excited when I see a new post from someone else besides me.

But I feel that The Writers Buzz is no longer going anywhere in terms of progression and community. And, I’m finding that I no longer have the time to maintain it like I did last year, much less think of new incentives for people to visit.

Perhaps it’s because compared to WBA, it’s a dead soldier. I’m not going to wipe this blog off the map because it contains valuable information for new writers who need to know how to market their books. Instead, I’m going to allow it to sit there and collect dust for a while until I’m able to figure about what to do with it.

I’ve been hanging around Ebay a lot this week, comparing the prices and features of digital cameras. I found several that I like, but I’m leaning towards the Kodak 4.0MP DX6490 model. The reason?

I found a good deal on a semi-professional camera. I’m not interested in the cheap ones because they’re . . . well, cheap. I was discussing this with my brother on Thursday, and he gave me his endorsement of Kodak digital cameras. Later that night, I checked Amazon.com for their reviews on this model and others that I’m watching on Ebay and found that most of them have 4-5 star reviews.

I’ll make my decision by Sunday night, as these listings will expire soon.

I woke up this morning and found everything sopping wet outside. Yesterday, the weatherman predicted a 40% chance of rain for today. Well, he was 60% off the mark!

The second surprise was receiving 55 free credits on Blog Explosion within the first fifteen minutes of surfing. That was very unusual, since over the past year I’ve been lucky to receive 5 credits at the most. I submitted this blog for a listing last night. I’ve added more blogs to my blogmark and will return later to find out what this “rent my blog” thing is all about.